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BASSETT JONES
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THE LIBRARIES
By
JOHN R. SPEARS
The Stories of American History
Story of the New England Whalers
Story of the American Merchant
Marine
Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer.
Born August 8, 1799. Died June 21, 1877.
Captain
Nathaniel Brown Palmer
An Old-Time Sailor of the Sea
BY
JOHN R. SPEARS
THE MACMILLAN "COMPANY
1922
All rights reserved
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Copyright, 1922,
By the MACMILLAN COMPANY.
Set up and printed. Published March, 1922.
Press of
J. J. Little & Ives Company
New York, U. S. A.
cr;
PREFACE
While employed as a reporter on The Sun, of
New York, thirty odd years ago, the writer saw
in the January, 1884, issue of Harper^ s Magazine,
an illustrated account of "The Old Packet and Clip-
per Service." Records of swift passages, hero tales
and statements of vast profits were mingled in it in
a way that proved memorable. In fact, the whole
story was so interesting that the magazine was pre-
served and became the first item in a collection of
books relating to the sea.
Naturally this collection came to resemble the
original article in that the most important feature
was bibliographical; it came to demonstrate that a
history of the sea, at least, is a series of biographies.
Naturally, too, the records of some of the more
active of the old master mariners were duplicated,
more or less, in the various accounts — their work
had attracted the attention of more than one writer.
Accordingly, as the collection was read and reread,
the names of certain captains became more and more
familiar to the reader and then a time came when
the name of one old captain came to mind whenever
any true story of the sea was read.
A few quotations from some of the sketches will
vi Preface
show how this came to pass : In the original account
it was noted that when ships were named, during
the clipper era, "the custom was to use the names
of distinguished merchants or captains — the Houqua,
the Samuel Russell, the N, B. Palmer,'* A copy of
the North American Review ^ published in 1834,
told how a Yankee sailor, in a sloop "but little rising
forty tons," had discovered lands of continental
proportions near the Antarctic Pole and had ex-
plored the coast for many miles in spite of the hurri-
cane squalls that prevail in that region and in spite
of the ice floes which mill around and crash together
there under the influence of currents as well as winds.
The name of this young man was Nathaniel Brown
Palmer, and the story quoted said that a Russian
naval officer had named the coast thus explored
Palmer Land. It appeared that the young explorer
thus distinguished was the distinguished merchant
or captain for whom a ship had been named later.
A clipping from a Liverpool newspaper described
briefly a race between twelve American packets and
freighters plying between New York and Liverpool.
The winner in this race was the W ashington, Cap-
tain Holdredge. He arrived in seventeen days. The
third in the race was the Columbus, Captain Palmer,
who arrived a day later. The Nautical Magazine^
(Volume II), which was edited by John Willis
Griffiths, a noted naval architect, made mention of
Captain N. B. Palmer several times during 1855,
and on one occasion coupled his name with that of
Preface vii
William H. Aspinwall, saying that the two were the
originators of "the late clipper era."
The impression made by these references was
deepened by further reading. There were many
notable men in the service of the American merchant
marine during the period between the War of 1812
and the Civil War, but, as the records indicated,
Captain Palmer as an explorer, as a master mariner,
and, more important still, as a designer of famous
clippers, was preeminent. So a time came when
the writer decided to secure, if possible, the facts
at least sufficient for a biographical sketch, and if
possible for a fairly complete biography.
It is a pleasure to acknowledge that In the work
then begun the most cordial aid was received from
Mrs. Richard Fanning Loper, of Stonlngton, Con-
necticut, a niece of Captain Palmer. The captain had
lived with Captain Alexander Palmer, her father,
for several years and such of his papers as remained
were left in Mrs. Loper's possession. The old
Palmer mansion at Stonlngton — a picturesque, shin-
gle-covered structure that stood on the west side
of town at a point overlooking the Sound and the
sea — was burned on November 15, 1850, when many
documents such as log books and letters were de-
stroyed, but some, including the log of the little sloop
Hero, kept during the memorable voyage to the
Antarctic Continent, were saved. All the materials
in Mrs. Loper's possession, together with notes made
from memory by her father, by herself and others
viii Preface
have all been used In preparing this biography. But
for the unwearied aid of Mrs. Loper it could not
have been written.
As for the facts obtained from contemporary
periodicals and documents, credit is given where
quotations are made. It should also be said, how-
ever, that many statements relating to the clippers
which were designed by Captain Palmer, as well as
by others, are taken from the "The Clipper Ship
Era," by Captain Arthur H. Clark, a work which
gives a history of all the clippers. Including the
British, which attracted public attention during the
period. Captain Clark is "one of the last of the cap-
tains of the old school," to quote a biographical
sketch In "Some Merchants and Sea Captains of
Old Boston." He wrote his history in part from
personal knowledge but chiefly from authentic docu-
ments, such as the log books of the ships, which he
gathered during the many years when he was the
New York representative of Lloyd's Register of
Shipping.
The writer must also acknowledge that material
help was received from Dr. James H. Weeks, of
Stonlngton; Frederick William Edgerton, of the
Public Library, New London; H. M. Lydenberg,
of the New York Public Library; the librarian of the
Boston Public Library; Captain W. C. Asserson,
U. S. N., Acting Hydrographer, Washington;
Homer Sheridan, managing editor, of the Marine
Journal, New York; Kenneth Lord, city editor of
Preface ix
the New York Herald; A. J. Aubrey, of the Brook-
lyn Eagle; S. Davles, Secretary of Lloyd's Register
of Shipping; J. Murray Forbes, Milton, Mass., and
Allan Forbes, of the State Street Trust Co., Boston.
J. R. S.
Little Falls, N. Y., September 14, 1921.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I Trained in a Shipyard i
II A Captain at Eighteen 14
III Learning the Course to the South
Shetlands 23
IV Master of a Tiny Tender 42
V Cruising Among the South Shetlands 51
VI Exploring the Antarctic Coast ... 64
VII European Explorers Among the Shet-
lands 76
VIII Superior Work of the Stonington Men 87
IX Exploring with the Sloop "James
Monroe" 92
X Carrying Supplies to Bolivar ... 99
XI Another Memorable Exploring Expe-
dition Ill
XII Captured by Convicts on Juan Fer-
nandez 130
XIII The Yankee Packets 141
XIV Commodore of the Dramatic Line . . 154
XV Record Passage from Liverpool to New
York 164
XVI The First Yankee Clipper . . . . 168
xi
xii Contents
CHAPTER PAGE
XVII The Griffiths Clippers 183
XVIII The Captain and His Fleet . . . . 191
XIX Good Qualities of the Clippers Con-
sidered 222
XX The ''Great Republic" Rebuilt . . 236
XXI Hail and Farewell 243
CAPTAIN
NATHANIEL BROWN PALMER
An Old-Time Sailor of the Sea
Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
CHAPTER I
TRAINED IN A SHIPYARD
CAPTAIN Nathaniel Brown Palmer was
born In the old family home at Stonlngton
on August 8, 1799. He was one among
eight children — four boys and four girls. On his
father's side he was descended from Walter Palmer
who settled at Salem, Mass., in 1629, while his
mother was of the Brown family of Rhode Island.
His father, who also bore the name of Nathaniel
Brown Palmer, was educated to practice law, but he
preferred to hear the rasp of the pit saw and the
crisp chip of the adz, rather than the dull drone of
the court room, and so he made shipbuilding his
life work.
Because building ships was the work of the father,
young Nat, as the boy born in 1799 was called to
distinguish him from his father, had a shipyard
for a playground from the time he was old enough
to run around without the care of a nurse. Stonlng-
ton, In those days, was a thriving seaport of about
I
2 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
5,000 Inhabitants, standing at the mouth of Long
Island Sound. When storms prevailed to eastward
the coasters bound around Point Judith and so on
to Providence or Boston or Portland, were In the
habit of entering the harbor of Stonlngton to await
pleasant weather. Then vessels that met misfortune
when rounding Point Judith or Block Island, icund
the Palmer shipyard a convenient place for making
repairs. The coasters brought many a tidy repair
job to the Palmer shipyard.
In the matter of building new ships, the yard was
favored by the fact that Connecticut oak stood higher
in the estimation of ship owners than any except
the live oak of Hatteras Island and the coast of
Florida. Of course the final test of popularity of
the yard depended on the quality of the work done,
and the proof that the quality was of the highest is
found in the fact that many vessels of all classes
were built there. However, because the channel
leading into the harbor carried only twelve feet of
water the chief demand at the Palmer yard was for
brigs, schooners, and sloops.
As said, from the time that young Nat was able
to navigate the sea of chips he went to his father's
yard to play; and so he began to absorb a knowledge
of hulls and spars before he went to school to learn
his letters. He stood by while the workmen
stretched keels on the blocks and erected the ribs;
and he listened to what they said about the models
of the hulls thus begun. He looked on with un-
Trained in a Shipyard 3
falling interest while other workmen, with endless
chipping, shaped long logs of various diameters
into masts and yards and booms and gaffs, discuss-
ing, the while, the merits of the sticks they worked
upon and the general dimensions of spars when
compared with the sizes and shapes of the hulls
for which they were designed. He learned what
was meant when they said a vessel was over-sparred
before he learned to work the rule of three.
His admiration was excited early by the men
who could rest one end of a slender stick on a rock
and then with a keen-edged ax slice shaving after
shaving down to within an inch of the rock until
he made of the stick a treenail, that was either round
or eight-square, and of the exact diameter to drive
into its destined augur hole — all this without ever
a slip that would endanger the edge on the ax.
And then there was the man who could swing an
ax in an overhead blow and split a chalk line three
times in succession. Young Nat dreamed of the day
when he, too, should be able to do that as well as
any one.
The shipbuilders of that day — the carpenters,
the spar makers, the riggers, and so on — were proud
of their skill. There was a friendly rivalry between
them in the yard, each striving to outdo the others,
not through any craven fear of the ''old man," as
the owner was called, but for the love of the dis-
tinguished consideration which skill brought to men
who excelled. So the shipyard was more than a
4 Captain Nathaniel Brotvn Palmer
playground for the towsle-headed youngster ; it was
a good school of the kindergarten variety. It was
one of many which then gave character to the small,
growing and somewhat towsle-brained nation.
When a vessel was launched, and the people of
the borough and the country round about came to
cheer her on her way, young Nat was one of the
privileged few who mounted the deck to ride down
the ways. The click of the mauls as the iron wedges
were driven into the keelblocks; the settling of the
hull on the cradle as the blocks dropped to pieces;
the final blow that released the trigger and let the
hull slide down the ways, all thrilled the boy more
than the men and women who cheered the event most
cordially.
Even that was not all. For while the hull was
yet on the ways the workmen and other spectators
talked about the poise the hull should have after
going afloat. Hulls were designed wholly by rule
o' thumb, in those days, and sometimes a ship was
down by the bows when the designer had expected
her to be down by the stern. And sometimes a hull
showed a list to one side or the other. The boy
listened while the workmen as well as the unhappy
designer told just how such a hull happened to go
wrong.
Most important in the education of young Nat
were these shipyard experiences; for they created
or at any rate cultivated the bent of mind which
eventually led him to design the ships of the Dra-
Trained in a Shipyard 5
matlc Line of Liverpool packets and the stately clip-
pers Howqua, Samuel Russell, Oriental, and others
which were most efficient and most famous in the
China trade.
That this boy learned to swim about as soon as
he learned to walk was according to the custom of
alongshore New England boys. One old account
says that when a gang of youngsters went to the
swimming hole, it frequently happened that boys
who had not yet learned to swim jumped in, deter-
mined to learn how, then and there — or get saved
by some of the older ones present. Of course, too,
the boy learned to handle a sailboat at the age when
farm boys learned to ride a horse. For the boys
of Stonlngton, a sail to the Middle Ground was a
matter of no moment; but to reach away to Ram
Island or the eastern end of Fisher's Island was an
adventure, while sailing to New London or to
Gardiner's Island was a voyage.
Consider now the influence of the stories told by
the sailors from the vessels which came to the
Palmer yard for repairs. Those were the good old
days of Jeffersonlan simplicity when the American
people preferred paying tribute to the pirates of
the north coast of Africa to fighting for freedom
to sail their ships across the high seas — when they
paid millions of tribute In the shape of coin, armed
ships and naval stores to black pirates. No doubt
seamen who had been in the Mediterranean came
to Stonlngton and related their experiences on the
6 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
African coast. Many — perhaps most — of them had
been In the West Indies during the days when French
and Spanish piratical privateers were raiding Ameri-
can commerce, and these had tales of narrow escapes
and of prison experiences to tell. Of the stories of
shipwreck there was, of course, no end. The very
presence of the vessels seeking repairs was usually
due to some sort of disaster. In short, the common
conversation of Stonlngton related to the sea just
as people in the blue grass of Kentucky talk about
the pedigrees of horses.
More important still, perhaps, In shaping the early
career of this young sailor-in-the-making, were the
oft-told stories of the neighbors who had sailed with
Captain Edmund Fanning in the brig Betsey ^ when,
in 1 797-1 799, she went to the Falklands for fur
seals; rounded the Horn and stopped at Mas-a-fuera
off the coast of Chili for more, and then sailed on to
Canton with 100,000 skins. That was a wonderfully
profitable voyage for all hands on the ship, and
they had sailed around the world. Moreover some
of them remained on Mas-a-fuera to take skins for
the Betsey for another voyage to follow the first.
No sailors from Stonlngton had more exciting ad-
venture tales to tell than these had.
From the sunlit waters of the Caribbean to the
ice fields of the far south, from New York around
Cape Horn to Canton and China, the sailors of
Stonlngton had seen many a strange sight of which
they were ready to talk to the wondering boys at
Trained in a Shipyard 'J
home. So the winds that came unimpeded from be-
yond the Cape of Good Hope to the Palmer ship-
yard at Stonlngton called with a siren's voice to
young Nat as he played among the chips.
Of the political conditions prevailing In the nation
during his boyhood young Nat no doubt knew much.
When an embargo was laid on American shipping
in an effort to compel the warring nations of Europe
to deal justly with this country, the vigor with which
the people of the town denounced the absurd meas-
ure was certainly in part understood by the boy of
ten — perhaps fully understood. He appreciated the
effects of the measure beyond a doubt when he saw
the dismantling of ships in the harbor. And when
on June i8, 1812, war was declared, he was old
enough to share In the excitement that prevailed all
alongshore.
That the interest of the boy In that war increased
with the passage of time is also beyond doubt, for
Stonlngton occupied a notable position.
The borough stood on a point of land, called
Long Point, opposite the east end of Fisher's Island,
and therefore faced the open sea as well as the east
end of Long Island Sound. The anchorage of that
day was a roadstead rather than a harbor and In
later years breakwaters were built to shelter the
shipping of the port. Nevertheless It was frequently
used by the coasting vessels as already noted — espe-
cially during northeast storms. When the War of
1 8 12 came on it was popular for another reason. It
8 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
became a resort for blockade runners. For the
enemy sent a war squadron under Commodore Sir
Thomas M. Hardy (he had been the favorite cap-
tain of Admiral Nelson) , to blockade the east end of
Long Island Sound. These ships reached to and fro
between Montauk Point and Point Judith where
they were nearly always within view of Stonington.
In foul weather the crews of the squadron were es-
pecially vigilant but they were never able to stop the
coasting traffic of the Yankees. Indeed the blockade
did but give zest to the traffic, for the danger added
greatly to the profits of each successful passage.
Thus at New York where the grain of the Hudson
watershed could be obtained, the price of flour was
but $7 a barrel. At Boston, where the people had
been accustomed to depend on New York for their
supplies, the price quickly rose to $14. Captain
Jacob Dunham, in his reminiscences, tells how he
bought the sloop Rover for $500, loaded her with
500 barrels of flour which he carried through the
blockade to eastern ports and sold for $4,000 net
profit. Some one ought to write a book on "Profits
and Progress," for it can be easily demonstrated
that high profits create swift progress.
The profits in blockade running were a perpetual
call to the daring seamen of the coast, and nowhere
was the call louder than at Stonington. For the
usual route of the coaster was through Fisher's Is-
land Sound and so within easy reach of the Stoning-
ton anchorage. When fog and wind favored her
Trained in a Shipyard 9
the coaster held her way; when clearing weather
seemed coming on, or when daylight was at hand,
the coaster dropped anchor near the borough. Cap-
tain Dunham says that blockade runners could be
seen at anchor there at all times when the weather
was fair. The people — more especially the boys
of Stonington — had the daring crews of these vessels
always in mind.
Moreover they saw the coasters when In deadly
peril. Many a time the fog cleared away unexpect-
edly while a sloop or a schooner was passing Point
Judith or was under Watch Hill, and the nearest
warship of the enemy came In hot pursuit. Every
sail was spread on pursuer and pursued and then
the guns on the warship began to roar. Many an
Interesting yacht race has been seen from Stoning-
ton, but consider how the excitement grew as the
Pactolus frigate, or the sloop Despatch, fired shot
that knocked the spray over the rail of the hunted
coaster and even carried away the tophamper. And
when the crew of the coaster were seen at work
wetting down their sails to Increase her speed we
may well believe that the spectators fairly shrieked
their approval.
Sometimes the flying Yankee held her way In
spite of Injuries and came fluttering Into port like a
wounded wild fowl. Sometimes the crew of a cap-
tured coaster rose on the prize crew and retook her
as was the luck of the crew of the Natina, Captain
Stewart.
10 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
The boys of Stonington knew the coasters as well
as a landsman knows the houses of his home town.
They were personally acquainted with many mem-
bers of the crews. Indeed, there were Stonington
men and boys on many of the blockade runners.
When one of these little vessels dropped anchor off
the point it was the custom for some of the crew
to come ashore, where they told in the picturesque
language of the sea how they had managed to escape
the enemy — told the story to listeners who became
wellnigh breathless because of their intense interest.
But .war was to come still closer to the people of
Stonington. The borough had been bombarded,
though all in vain, during the War of the Revolu-
tion. On August 9, 1 8 14, Commodore Hardy came
to bombard it again because he had heard that the
Stoningtonians were building torpedoes with which
to attack his squadron. As the story is told in H. D.
Palmer's "Stonington by the Sea," the 74-gun liner
Ramilies, the 44-gun frigate Pactolus, the 22-gun
brig Despatch and the bomb brig Terror reached
in to anchor at a point where their guns would bear.
Then a boat brought ashore a message which read:
"Not wishing to destroy the unoffending inhabi-
tants of Stonington, one hour is given them from the
receipt of this to remove out of town."
The non-combatants left the town; the men
loaded two old-fashioned i8-pounders, which were
standing in a small earthwork on the point. They
had at hand a 4-pounder but it was not loaded then.
Trained in a Shipyard II
They had two guns with which to reply to four ships
which together mounted 140 effective cannon besides
an unknown number of mortars on the Terror, some
of the shells from which weighed more than 200
pounds. In the history of war there are few stories
of men who faced greater odds than that.
At 8 o'clock that night the Terror began shelling
the town. The crews of the two i8-pounders —
sailors, no doubt, who had faced the perils of the
sea ever since the previous war — returned the fire.
And at the first shot they fired they demonstrated
that the odds were in their favor! For their shot
struck home. They knew how to aim their guns
while the enemy fired with enthusiasm and nothing
better to direct their shells.
Seeing that his fire was Ineffective while that of
the two 1 8-pounders were sinking the T error ^ Com-
modore Hardy at 9 o'clock, sent six or seven huge
rowboats to a position from which they could shower
the town with Congreve rockets, a weapon then
supposed to be especially efficient in firing wooden
houses. A few houses were thus set on fire but the
Stoningtonians extinguished the flames. The fire
of shot which was meantime directed on the two
1 8-pounders eventually cut the old ''gridiron flag"
from its staff in the little earthwork, but a big
gunner stepped to the flagstaff where another man,
flag in hand, mounted his shoulders and nailed it to
the staff.
At midnight Commodore Hardy acknowledged
12 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
that he had failed thus far — acknowledged it by
sending a flotilla of longboats to effect a landing.
Thereupon the Stoningtonians brought their 4-
pounder as well as one of the i8-pounders to bear
on these boats.
''We tore one of their barges all to pieces," wrote
Captain Amos Palmer, in a letter to the Secretary
of the Navy, later, "so that two, one on each side,
had to lash her up to keep her from sinking."
At that the flotilla fled, which was something
British sailors have rarely done. Then the fire at
the warships was renewed. The bombardment was
continued, off and on, for three days. In that time
the sloop Despatch alone lost 21 killed and 50
wounded from the fire of the two i8-pounders, as
was learned from one of her officers after the war.
The loss on the other warships was never told. In
Stonington one man was hurt — mortally wounded.
Not a house was destroyed. The people picked up
fifteen tons of projectiles after the battle ended.
Some of them are yet on view. So is the tattered
old flag which floated above the two i8-pounders.
It was among such neighbors as these men who
would fight regardless of the odds that young Nat
Palmer was born and reared. Moreover it was the
proud boast of the people there that one of them —
Midshipman Nathaniel Fanning — had fought under
John Paul Jones on the Bon Homme Richard and
had heard the memorable words "I have not yet
Trained in a Shipyard 13
begun to fight." In no town in the world was a
higher standard of manhood maintained.
But whether young Nat was at home when the
borough was bombarded is doubtful for he had,
earlier in the year, shipped as a boy before the mast
in one of the blockade runners which plied to and
fro from New York to Portland, regardless of the
blockade.
CHAPTER II
A CAPTAIN AT EIGHTEEN
THE only written record of the experiences
of young Nat Palmer as a sailor on a block-
ade runner, during the War of 1812, is the
statement that one vessel on which he was employed
was burned in the harbor at New Haven. But some
of the conditions under which he made his way
through the blockading squadrons, from time to
time, are well known, and may be described here in
order to show the kind of life he led and its effects
upon his development as a sailor of the sail.
First of all it may be noted that there was not
a lighthouse in commission anywhere along shore.
The buoys which had been placed here and there
to mark the reefs and shoals had all been removed
at the opening of the war, lest they serve to guide the
enemy. Sailing along the American coast was like
sailing on some newly-discovered littoral, save only
as the captain of each American vessel knew the
lay of the land, and could locate dangerous water
by distant marks such as hills and houses, which
were visible in clear weather.
In making a passage, as from New York to Bos-
ton, the vessel usually had clear sailing until within
14
A Captain at Eighteen 1 5
sight of the blockading squadron, say, off New Lon-
don. It was therefore the custom, when the air was
clear, to sail along boldly on this passage as far as
that port or to Huntington, Long Island, and then
anchor to wait for fog or a dark night. With a fog
during a night when the moon was not shining the
captain of a blockade runner felt entirely safe; for
all the captains in the business were like the pilot on
the Mississippi of whom Mark Twain told — they
knew the waters through which they were to steer
as well as they knew the lay of the rooms in their
own homes. A cast of the lead was the only aid
to trained instinct needed when making the run.
The skill of the crews who handled these vessels
is memorable; for it was something marvelous in
the eyes of foreigners. Consider the sloops that
were commonly used. Some of them were from 50
to 75 feet long. The masts were much taller than
the hulls were long and some booms were five feet
longer than the hulls. A 75-foot sloop commonly
had a mast 84 or 85 feet tall with a boom that was
80 feet long. The mainsail was comparable with
that of a "giant" defender of the America's cup,
but a crew of six men handled any one of those
sloops, where the cup racers have carried from thirty
to forty. And one man at the tiller could gibe the
main boom over in a smart breeze without bringing
enough strain on sheet or masthead to break a rope-
yarn.
The young apprentice from Stonington was
1 6 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
trained to handle the tiller by men who could do just
that well; and In due course he became as expert
as they were. In fair winds and foul; in gentle airs
and in roaring gales, he had to stand his trick at
the tiller, noting the while not only the influence of
the wind but the influence of tidal currents, which
were sometimes favorable and sometimes adverse.
More important still, considering the work he was
to do later, he had to do all this at night and when
the fog was so thick on the water that he could not
see the jib when he stood at the tiller.
It was said of the blockade-running skippers that
they could "smell their way from Hell Gate to
Providence with their eyes shut" ; and that was not
as much of an exaggeration as It may seem to mod-
ern navigators of Long Island Sound.
Throughout the War of 1812 and until 18 18
young Nat sailed upon vessels which were engaged
in trade between New York and the New England
ports. He thus learned the arts of the coasting trade
so well that he was promoted first to the rank of
second mate and then mate. Before he was 19 he
became master of a schooner named Galena. He
had maintained the reputation of his home port, for
Stoningtonians made boast of the ability of their
boys to secure command before they were of an age
to vote.
The peculiar skill which young Nat had acquired
while working his way aft — the ability to navigate
among the shoals In foul weather as well as fair —
A Captain at Eighteen 17
was now to take him from the coasting trade to a
voyage on deep water and yet demote him; for he
was invited to take part as a second mate in an ex-
pedition, fitted out at private expense, to explore
the unknown waters below Cape Horn. The object
in view was the location of islands supposed to exist
there, which were known to tradition as the Auroras,
and these islands were supposed to be the summer
home of vast herds of fur seals.
Because young Nat joined in this expedition and
thus became a noted sealer, a brief review of the
seal fishery will give a needed focus upon that period
of his life. According to a history issued by the
U. S. Fish Commission '*a Boston lady named
Haley * was led to bear the expense of fitting out
the ship States for a voyage to the Falkland Islands
for hair seal skins and sea elephant oil," soon after
the War of the Revolution.
Skins of the hair seal were then used raw to
cover trunks. They were also tanned for various
uses. Sea elephant oil sold for as much as that of
the right whale. The States returned to New York
with a full cargo of hair seal skins and of elephant
oil, together with 13,000 skins of the fur seal, which,
says the record, were brought "as an experiment."
An "experiment" was characteristic of the Ameri-
can sailors of the day. They would try any kind
of work that promised a large profit. This ex-
* Sister of John Wilkes, a member of Parliament, who became
a popular hero after publishing a pamphlet attacking George III
(1763).
1 8 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
perlment had a far-reaching effect. When the furs
arrived in New York nobody knew what to do
with them, but they were sold for 50 cents each
to a buyer who supposed that at worst they might
be tanned as were those of the hair seal. Then
a venturesome merchant bought them and shipped
them to Calcutta. He '^guessed" they were the
skins of sea otters, instead of seals, and he had
heard that sea otter skins sold for more than $20
each in Canton. He shipped the skins to Calcutta
instead of Canton because he "guessed" one Asi-
atic port would prove as desirable as another,
and because he found a ship ready for that port
while none was ready for Canton. He learned in
time that no one in Calcutta would buy them, but
they were then shipped to Canton where they brought
$5 each or $65,000 for the consignment.
The development of the fur-seal fishery followed
that speculation. Among the venturesome mer-
chants of New York, in those days, was Elias Nex-
sen. He fitted out the brig Betsey for a sealing
voyage in 1792. The mate of the brig was a
Stonington boy named Edmund Fanning who, about
forty years later, wrote a book entitled "Voyages
Around the World," in which he described the ad-
ventures of the Betsey*s crew while at the Falk-
land Islands. The skins taken by the Betsey were
carried to New York, but another vessel, the Eliza,
Captain William R. Stewart, which took 38,000
skins at Juan Fernandez, carried them to Canton,
A Captain at Eighteen 19
where they were sold for only 50 cents each. The
Chinese market had been depressed by the number
of skins.
In 1797 Mr. Nexsen fitted out the Retsey for
another sealing voyage with Captain Edmund Fan-
ning in command. The Betsey called at the Falk-
lands and Mas-a-fuera and then carried 100,000
skins to Canton. Fannlng's book does not tell the
price received for the skins, nor the gross return
from the China goods he secured In exchange for
them, but It says that the net profit of the owners
of the Betsey amounted to $52,300. The Betsey
measured less than 100 tons and was probably worth
less than $3,000. At about this time the ship Nep-
tune, Captain Daniel Green, of New Haven, gath-
ered 45,000 skins at the Falklands and Juan
Fernandez, which sold for $90,000 in Canton. The
China goods then purchased sold for $260,000 in
New York and the profits were so large that the
lay of the forecastle hands amounted to $1,200 each.
Thereafter voyages to the fur-seal islands were
made every year, among which only one, that of
Captain Edmund Fanning, In a well-armed ship
named Aspasia, need be considered here. The cap-
tain sailed in 1800 to the South Georgia islands
where he secured 57,000 prime furs which he sold
in Canton at great profit.
Another sealer who made money was Captain
Amasa Delano, who wrote a book, describing his
adventures, which was Issued in 18 17 and had a
20 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
wide circulation. Meantime, vessels from nearly
all the American whaling ports had tried the seal
fishery. The result was practical extermination of
the known herds. It was said that 3,000,000 seals
were taken from Juan Fernandez alone. The scar-
city of seals on the known rookeries, as the seal
beaches were, and are, called, caused the failure
of several ventures in the fishery and It was then
that the exploring expedition in search of the
Auroras was planned.
The prime mover In this expedition was Captain
Edmund Fanning, who had retired from the sea.
He had secured copies of the reports of various early
explorers, among which was that of Skipper DIrck
Gherrltz, the Dutchman who rounded the Horn
in 1599. Another was the report of the captain
of the Spanish corvette Atrevida. Both of these
reports mentioned lands seen south of Cape Horn.
While the existence of these lands was doubted
by most geographers, because no one had seen them
in recent times. Captain Fanning believed in them.
For while he was at the South Georglas, with the
Aspasia, he had seen immense Icebergs and fields
of ice sailing with the southwest gales, which pre-
vailed most of the time, and he had previously
observed that such masses of ice were formed only
in connection with lands of considerable extent.
The Ice convinced him that land was to be found
"somewhere between the latitudes of 60° and 65°
A Captain at Eighteen 21
south and between 50° and 60° west" (pp. 428-
429, 'Tanning's Voyages").
Because the captain and his friends had already
made fortunes in just such ventures they were
ready, when the fishery failed in 18 17, to venture
the capital needed for a search for the Auroras.
For this purpose they selected ''the brig Hersilia,
a fine new vessel, coppered and fitted in the best
manner." Captain James A. Sheffield, an experi-
enced and successful sealer, was placed in command.
The selecting of the crew, which now became the
duty of Captain Sheffield, is worth a few words of
explanation.
The Hersilia was to sail into waters that were
not only uncharted but they had not been visited,
so far as could be learned, since the two vessels
mentioned above had seen the lost lands. But it
was very well known that the whole region south
of the Horn was lashed and torn by storms of snow
and sleet, in summer as well as winter, and that
even a week of pleasant weather was rarely seen
at any time of the year. Further, during the sum-
mer season, when the Hersilia was to arrive, was the
time when the ice fields of the region broke loose
from the land and were driven before the all but
ceaseless gales. It was known, too, that the ice
masses around which the gales raged were shrouded
in the blackest of fogs and blotted from view by
heavy snow squalls for many days at a stretch.
22 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
Finally, the Islands, If found, were sure to be sur-
rounded by reefs and sunken rocks upon which the
brig was likely to strike whenever she ventured near
enough to learn where the seals were to be found.
For junior officers. Captain Sheffield needed men,
of each of whom It might truthfully be said that
"he could smell his way through fog by night from
Hell Gate to Providence." So, he Invited young
Nat Palmer to go along as second mate, although
the boy had never made a deep-water voyage.
Whereupon Nat, with love of adventure spurring
him on, accepted the Invitation.
CHAPTER III
LEARNING THE COURSE TO THE SOUTH SHETLANDS
THE Hersilia left Stonington In July, 1819,
bound, first of all, to the Cape de Verde
Islands for salt with which to cure the
furs she was to get if and when she found the
Auroras, Seal skins were commonly cured by dry-
ing, in those days, but it was believed that the
rains, sleets and snows prevailing in the region south
of Cape Horn would prevent drying. Having pur-
chased 600 bushels of salt at the islands the brig
squared away for the Falkland Islands, where she
stopped to fill her water casks and to refresh her
crews. For scurvy was the scourge of the sea, and
fresh provisions provided the only known remedy.
The Falklands, though a treeless group, had been
stocked with cattle and hogs by early explorers,
and both kinds of animals had thrived. Then thou-
sands of wild fowl came there in the nesting season
and their eggs were to be had in any quantity; for
it was in October, the beginning of the summer sea-
son, when the Hersilia arrived there. Furthermore,
a species of grass, with stalks eight to ten feet high,
abounded, and the roots and stalks were good to
eat, and they were an excellent antiscorbutic.
23
24 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
In order to gather a large supply of fresh eggs,
wild fowl, pork and beef, and of the greens, Second
Mate Nat Palmer and one of the sailors were
landed on an island where the supplies were to be
had, as soon as the Hersilia arrived. The brig then
sailed away to the south of Staten Island in order
to carry on the search for Aurora Islands during
the time the two men were gathering the supplies.
Leaving young Palmer and the sailor thus and
going on with the search was characteristic of our
sailors of the sail in those days. A captain from
Europe would have anchored at the island while
the crew as a whole gathered the supplies — as one
did do while young Nat was there. But Sheffield
had come to search for seal islands and he would
not spend even one day unnecessarily in port. He
was thus not only economizing time but he was
doing all he could to forestall any other vessel that
might come to those waters on the same errand.
The American sailor of the sail was not to be
''caught napping." And it was because young Nat
was especially alert that this exploring voyage
proved notably successful, and is now memorable
for something more than the profit secured.
One day while Palmer and his man were busy
with their work, they saw a strange sail — a brig that
was manifestly not the Hersilia — appear in the
northwest. A little later it was seen that she was
heading in to make the harbor in their island. One
account says that young Nat then went off and
Learning the Course to the South Shetlands 25
piloted her In but another makes no mention of
his going to meet her. It Is certain, however, that
when she had anchored in the harbor young Nat
perceived that she had been elaborately fitted out
for sealing. He now wanted to learn where she
expected to find seals — whether she was to work the
well-known rookeries or some that were newly dis-
covered; and If the latter, where they were located.
What he did learn was that the brig was named
Espirito Santo. She was from Buenos Ayres but
she was owned by Englishmen and was manned by
English sailors. American and British writers
were constantly nagging each other In those days,
but young Nat and his man were cordially received
by the English captain. In return the two Yankees
went to work to help the British crew secure a full
supply of fresh provisions; and Yankee efficiency
soon overcame any lurking prejudice which mem-
bers of the crew of the Espirito Santo may have
held.
Pleasant relations having thus been established,
young Nat was able to learn that the brig had been
fitted for a short voyage. Where she was bound
her crew naturally refused to tell, but why she had
been fitted out was told. A seal Island had been
discovered in recent times by a merchantman round-
ing the Horn, and the Espirito Santo was to make
the first killing.
The story of the discovery of this new Island
is now told in Findlay's "Sailing Directory for the
26 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
South Atlantic Ocean." A British brig named
JVilliam, Captain William Smith, of Blyth (he was
later knighted), was in those days plying regularly
between the River Plate and Valparaiso, carrying
freight, passengers and the mails. Nowhere else
in the world was a regular service maintained under
such distressful and perilous conditions as those pre-
vailing along the route around Cape Horn. The
passage of the JVilliam to the west was usually
made under especially bad conditions because the
prevailing winds were from the west. Gale followed
gale in swift succession and every blast was laden
with snow, sleet and spray. The decks became at
times coated with ice and the rigging was frozen
stiff. The little brig on some voyages beat to and
fro for many days at a stretch without making a
mile on her course to westward; and it sometimes
happened that she was driven so far back and away
from her course that a week of fair winds was
needed to enable her to recover the position from
which the storm had driven her.
In February, 1818, one of these storms came
upon her as she was beating to westward. The
wind (and the current as well), carried her help-
less, to the south as well as the east, and while
she was thus wallowing in the seas, the murk of
the storm opened and a mountainous island covered
for the most part with ice and snow was seen. Be-
cause no land was marked on the William's chart
of that region, Captain Smith, on his return to
Learning the Course to the South Shetlands 27
Buenos Ayres, sent a report of what he had seen
to the Board of Trade, in London. Then, on his
next passage westward, he reached down to make a
more careful examination of land. His report of
what he then saw was In part as follows:
'*I . . . discovered land on the 15th of October
at 6 P. M. in lat. 62° 30', long. 60"^ W. by chrono-
meter. . . . Hauled off during the night. ... At
daylight stood In . . . got the island to bear N. W.
distant half a league. . . . Finding the weather fa-
vourable we down boat and landed; found it barren
and covered with snow. Seals in abundance."
It was this report, as made in Buenos Ayres, on
his return thither after this second voyage, that had
brought the Epirito Santo on a sealing expedition.
She was sailing on definite information about an
island of which the people of Stonington had heard
rumors.
That the Englishmen did not tell young Nat
Palmer where the island lay was entirely natural.
Their hope of large profit lay in keeping the posi-
tion of the island secret. But the young sailor did
learn that the Island had been discovered by a vessel
which had been blown from its course while sailing
to the west around the Horn. The quick-witted
youth then reasoned that the new land must lie east
of the longitude of the Horn. Further than that
it was probable that the brig had been lying to on
the starboard tack, when the island was seen, be-
28 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
cause she would Inevitably take that tack in order
to drift away from the reefs around the Horn. He
knew that while lying to thus on the starboard tack
every blast of the gale had certainly driven her a
longer distance to the south than to the east — her
course while drifting had been, very likely, to the
south-southeast. So the young sailor reasoned from
his experience when drifting with the gales through
the fogs of Long Island Sound, during previous
years. It was because of that experience that he
had been brought on the expedition, and now his
ability to figure out the course of a drifting ship
was to be of very great service.
When the Espirito Santo left port, young Nat
watched her as long as he could see her and thus
learned that she was sailing on a course which would
take her to a point where he estimated the William
had found the new land; and he impatiently waited
the return of the Hersilia.
At the end of three days the brig came sailing
into the harbor. As soon as he boarded her young
Nat told his story to Captain Sheffield and gave his
estimate of the course to take. The captain at once
concurred In the estimate; and after taking on the
fresh food young Nat and the sailor had secured,
the Hersilia made sail in the wake of the Espirito
Santo. For four days she held the course as laid
down by young Nat and then, as the afternoon
waned, the lookout at the forecrosstrees gave the
thrilling cry of "Land hoi"
Learning the Course to the South Shetlands 29
The Islands to which Second Mate Palmer had
thus instinctively guided the Hersilia are now known
as the South Shetlands. As described In various
works the group Is an archipelago of volcanic origin
which is 260 miles long if measured in a north-
east and southwest direction. There are ten large
islands, all of which are separated one from another
by deep channels, but around all of these are many
islets and reefs where the depth of water is un-
known. At the northeast end the largest of the
group is named King George (Powell's chart).
The next largest, Livingston, lies near the south-
west end of the chain. Smith's Island, named for
the discoverer, William Smith, Is well off to the west
of Livingston, but the most interesting of the whole
group, to the ordinary reader, Is a small one south
of Livingston which was named Deception by the
Yankee sealers, and it still holds that name.
Nearly all of the Islands are mountainous, the
peaks rising from 2,000 to 3,000 feet above the
sea, and one on Smith's Island is 6,600 feet high.
Every mountain is covered with snow the year
round, save for a narrow rim near the sea, and In
every canyon is a glacier. No soil or even sand
is found in the bare terrane alongshore (save only
in Yankee Harbor), but there Is mud at the bottom
of some of the harbors. Broken and ragged lava
formations are seen wherever the snow is melted
away in summer, and the only vegetation Is a sort
of moss.
30 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
The shores of the larger Islands are all deeply
indented with fiords and bays, thus providing many
harbors, some of which are land-locked and safe
in the worst storms.
When the air Is clear the Islands are visible from
incredible distances. Dr. Eights, a scientist who
went there with an exploring expedition to be de-
scribed In another chapter, wrote that "the nu-
merous furrows and ravines . . . are distinctly
visible for fifty or sixty miles" (Niles's Register,
May 8, 1834). But while he was there, "not a
day occurred that snow did not fall, or Ice make
on our decks. . . . The prevailing winds were
from the southwest and northwest." A current
that flowed constantly from the southwest was ob-
served, and when this was measured later, by Cap-
tain Palmer, he ascertained that the speed was three
knots an hour.
Dr. Eights wrote that "there were evidences of
a number of active volcanoes In the vicinity," and
numerous pieces of pumice stone were "strewed
along the beaches."
The wild life of the islands attracted more at-
tention from the doctor than any other feature.
"In calm weather great number of whales were seen
breaking the surface of the ocean between tjie nu-
merous Icebergs. . . . When they perish their car-
casses are taken by the billows and thrown far upon
the land; here they are left by the waves and In a
few hours their bones become perfectly denuded by
Learning the Course to the South Shetlands 31
the numberless sea birds that feed upon their flesh.
. . . Entire skeletons of the whale, fifty or sixty
feet in length, are not infrequently found in elevated
situations — many feet above the highwater line."
Dolphins and porpoises abounded. There were
seemingly millions of the birds of the region, vary-
ing in size from the albatross to the stormy petrel.
It is said that the petrels laid their eggs in a heap of
warm volcanic ashes found on one island and that
the eggs were hatched without further care from the
mothers.
No adequate description of the dangers of naviga-
tion among the group has ever been written, or can
be. To say that hundreds of icebergs and other
masses of ice, including vast fields, are to be seen
among and around the islands at all times does not
suffice; but if the reader can imagine those ice masses
clashing together during the hurricane squalls and
while dense fogs and blinding snow squalls prevail;
and while the drag of the currents among the reefs
is added to all other dangers, perhaps the situation
of sealers afloat there will be comprehended; and
some idea of the conditions under which the Stoning-
ton sailors gathered their harvest will be had.
As it happened when the Hersilia arrived within
view of the group the weather was vile. For two
days she lay to in the lee of an island. Then the
air cleared, the sea became smooth and she was able
to stand Into a harbor which could be seen when
off shore. When close in, a boat was lowered with
32 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
which young Nat went ahead to look for a clear
channel. Rounding a point at the entrance of the
harbor he saw the Espirito Santo at anchor within,
but no one was to be seen on her deck. Accord-
ingly he rowed alongside and, climbing on board,
looked around, only to find that she seemed to be
wholly deserted. Then he walked to the open main
hatch and saw in the hold the captain at work with
a boy, salting down seal skins.
Young Nat's footsteps made the captain look up
hastily, and with an exclamation of surprise he rec-
ognized the youth who had helped to provide fresh
supplies for the Espirito Santo at the Falklands.
But the Englishman was what would now be called
a good sport.
"Never mind," he said. "There are plenty of
seals for all."
It was so. The rookeries were covered with
thousands of seals of all sizes. Both crews were
able to secure full cargoes from the finest of the
herds. It Is a memorable fact, too, that when the
Englishman had finished his own load he turned to
and helped the Hersilias to complete their cargo.
He was working on the theory that "blood Is thicker
than water," to quote the words of another sailor
which were expressed years later in China.
In order that the reader who Is not familiar
with the seal fishery may appreciate the work of
young Palmer at the Shetland Islands, it seems need-
ful to interrupt the narrative of events and describe
Learning the Course to the South Shetlands 33
in some detail the methods by which the sealers
secured their furs, and to give a few notes on the
habits of the seals.
According to the records the seals of the Antarc-
tic come to the beaches to which they resort during
the month of November. First of all the old males,
called wigs, appear and take stations on the rocks
and shingie alongshore. The most powerful of
these seals choose places near the centers of the
largest beaches. The less powerful go where they
will be undisturbed by the big ones; for vicious
battles occur when two old wigs come anywhere
near each other.
In a few days the females follow and soon bring
forth their young. They are meantime gathered
into large harems around the more powerful males
in the middle grounds and into small groups by the
outlying males. The larger groups number any-
where from fifty to a hundred while the outlying
males may have no more than four or five or even
one.
The young males of from two to four years of
age, being unable to compete with their fathers,
gather in herds apart. The skins of these young-
sters always bring the highest prices In the market.
After the young are born the mother seals go
out to sea for food, leaving their young (one each)
asleep In the midst of the masses of other young.
They are away feeding for hours at a stretch but
when they return and call to their pups each is
34 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
answered by her own, and each goes to her own
without error.
The large assemblies of seals are called rookeries.
Small assemblies numbering from two or three up
to a dozen or so are to be found on some of the
flat-topped rocks that rise above the tide off shore.
Rocks of the kind found on the half-tide reefs
usually have a few seals as regular visitors. No
matter how heavy the pounding of the surf on the
reefs around such a rock, the seals come snorting
and playing through all, climb the slope to the crest
and there, where the spray Is continuously thrown
upon them, they stretch out and go to sleep.
The work of securing seal skins was In some re-
spects the most dangerous and perhaps In all re-
spects the most disagreeable known to our sailors
of the sail. It was especially so during the second
voyage of young Palmer to the South Shetlands
because of the competition. When two vessels only
were among the Islands (as during his first voyage),
the men could choose their rookeries and consider
the conditions of the weather with an eye to safety
if not for comfort. But with thirty most energetic
crews competing among the Islands, as happened
at the South Shetlands during the season of 1820-
182 1, every day was a working day, and to secure a
full harvest It was necessary to visit the outlying
rocks as well as the populous rookeries.
Whaleboats were used to carry the men from
the vessels to some of the smaller rookeries. These
Learning the Course to the South Shetlands. 35
boats were around 25 feet long, 5 wide and 2 deep.
White oak was used for their frames and half-inch
cedar for the planks. In model these boats were
like those of the Vikings — sharp at both ends.
When afloat each boat was manned by five or six
men, one of whom was usually a mate who stood
at the stern and steered by means of a long oar.
As second mate of the Hersilia young Nat had
plenty of experience in handling these boats, and
when a landing was to be made through the heavy
surf on a rock-strewn beach he held the lives of
the crew in his hands. For the rookeries were al-
ways found on the beaches exposed to the seas.
The waves came unimpeded over a thousand miles
of open water, and where they crashed down on the
rock-strewn slope — where the whaleboat had to
land — they covered and concealed numberless bowl-
ders and rock masses which were death traps for the
sealers. But the young mate, standing with legs
wide apart at the stern, and with both hands on the
long steering oar, peered through the spoondrift
ahead for the hidden reefs, the while he instinctively
hastened or slowed the stroke of the oarsmen until
a great wave lifted the boat on its crest and then
rushed on until it flattened out where the water
shoaled so that the men could leap over the rails
and drag the frail craft up to safety.
Taking seals from the off-shore rocks was still
more trying. At first thought one would suppose
that the sealers would wait for a quiet day and then
36 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
row out to the lone rocks and capture the seals at
ease. But the fact Is that many of those rocks
were not to be scaled in quiet weather, for they were
steep-sided and towered high above the still water.
It was only when storms prevailed and the waves
rolled high enough to lift a boat up to the level
of the top of the rock that the seals there could
be secured.
Consider, now, how these seals were taken from
the rocks. Waiting until a gale came to drive the
needed high waves directly past a deep-water face
of the seal rock, the crew of a whaleboat rowed
away to a point say a half-mile up wind from the
chosen reef. There the boat was turned and headed
back directly for the rock, when the men at the
oars pulled steadily until the mate judged they were
within striking distance, which means that he be-
lieved the boat, with lively rowing, could be sent
past the rock on the crest of one of those immense
rollers which come In threes. Then the bow oars-
man took In his oar, picked up a club, slipped a
coil of whale line over his arm and stood up on
his thwart, facing the rock. The crew, meantime,
pulled their oars with all their might until the boat
seemed about to crash against the rock, when the
mate turned the bow to one side, the oars were al-
lowed to trail and then, as the boat drove swiftly
past, the bowman leaped forth to land on the rock
as best he could.
Occasionally a man fell short, and was picked up
Learning the Course to the South Shetlands 37
or drowned as the case might be, but usually a land-
ing was effected; when the seals were knocked in
the head and skinned. Of course the man and his
catch were recovered by similar dashes past the
rock, the bundle of skins being hauled off, first of
all, by means of the whale line.
During Captain Nat's second voyage the seal-
ers from thirty different vessels (and more espe-
cially the English and the Yankee sealers) eagerly
raced through the living storms of the South Shet-
lands to positions from which a man could leap
from a driven boat on the crest of a wave to the
crest of a rock which was at all other times in-
accessible. One hundred years later — on a day in
July, 1920 — a British crew and an American crew,
each the pick of its own nation, went out to sea off
Sandy Hook, New York, to sail two splendid yachts
in a friendly competition for the most famous trophy
known to the history of manly sports — the Ameri-
ca's cup. As a piece of silver the cup was insignifi-
cant, but to win it was to secure the leadership of
the yachting world. It was a contest for Honor.
But when the yachtmen arrived at the old light-
ship they found the wind blowing at the rate of
twenty knots an hour and the sea was rumpled.
One look upon the rumples was enough for them.
It would never do to sail a yacht only 70 feet long
on the waterline under such dangerous conditions
as prevailed, and, squaring away, they hastened back
to the sheltering arm of Sandy Hook.
38 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
Whether the sealers worked on the beaches or
the outlying rocks, they were continuously drenched
by the spray and the spoondrift and the solid water
into which they leaped; and by the sleet that fell
upon and coated them with ice. They were chilled
by the piercing gales. They often slipped and fell
on the rocks and were painfully bruised. They were
sometimes bitten by the seals and sometimes thrown
headlong by a rush of the herd they were trying to
kill. Now and then, a boat's crew was overturned
by a curling wave and her crew were lost. Now and
then a man was killed by a fall over a precipice.
When at nightfall they returned in their water-
soaked clothing to the ship there was no fire in
either the cabin or the forecastle by which they
could warm their chilled bodies. But the records
show that the men of the sealing crews were all
so eager to take part in the work that the cooks
and cabin boys left their easy berths on the ships
to go afloat in the whaleboats; and the only grum-
bling heard came from the man who was necessarily
left on each vessel as keeper.
There is another record which says that the
wealth of Stonington is founded on the accumula-
tions made by those sealers. What would those
sailors of the sail who were thus developing a
wealthy community as well as harvesting a fortune
each for himself — what would they say if they
could return and meet the men who now organize
labor monopolies by which to limit the production
Learning the Course to the South Shetlands 39
of the most skilled to that of the weaklings and
slackers?
Nearly all of the catch of the Stonington men,
in 1 820-1 82 1, was secured by companies who landed
and made camps on the islands close to the rook-
eries. By day they killed and skinned as many
seals as they could, the average day's work being
fifty skins. Night and morning they cooked the
food brought to them from the ships by means of
fires made of seal fat — Eskimo fashion — and they
slept on boards laid for floors in the canvas-and-
board huts in which they lived. These men were
really more comfortable than those who lived
aboard ship, for they had fires in their huts by
which they could get warm. The smoke of the
burning fat made them all as black as Negroes but
that was a matter over which they cracked many
a joke.
A part of the work of curing the skins, as every
trapper will recognize, was cleaning the fat from
the flesh side. This was done as tanners do such
work — by shaving the blubber off with a "beaming
knife" — a back-breaking job.
Because some who read this biography are sure
to be shocked by what they will call the merciless
slaughter which exterminated the seal herds, it seems
needful to say first that the slaughter was not cruel.
The seals were killed by a single blow on the head,
for the skull was thin and easily crushed in. Death
was instantaneous. As for the extermination of
40 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
the herds the blame should be placed upon the state
of civilization then prevailing and not on the seal-
ers. The islands where the seals were found might
have been preserved, as Lobos Island was preserved
at the mouth of the River Plate, and as the Prib-
alov Islands of Alaska are now preserved; but it
was the business of government — any government
willing to do the work — to preserve the herds at
the Shetlands and elsewhere and not the business
of the sealers. As long as no nation was sufficiently
civilized to do this work, each sealer was obliged
to take as many as possible while there were any
to take. It was a free-for-all contest and the men
who were most successful are now memorable for
their courage and prowess.
The Hersilia, in the voyage which began in 1819,
had salt for only 10,000 skins — 600 bushels. The
skins of young bachelor seals were therefore se-
lected. When the salt had all been used the crew
made all sail for home and kept the little brig
traveling. In Stonington the skins sold for $2 each,
or $20,000 for the cargo, say eight times the cost
of the entire outfit. Young Nat's share of the cargo
was probably one in 35, or say 280 skins which
sold for $560. For that day the pay of the young
man for this voyage, lasting eight or nine months,
was considered something memorable.
When the Hersilia had discharged her cargo at
Stonington the owners at once began fitting out
another expedition for a voyage to the newly dis-
Learning the Course to the South Shetlands 41
covered rookeries. It was certain that the Espirito
Santo would return there, and that many other
sealers would also go; for it was impossible to keep
secret the fact that a new seal island had been found,
and even its location was sure to become public
property.
Because the wit and knowledge of the young sec-
ond mate had carried the Hersilia to the new rook-
eries, it was a matter of course that he should have
a position in this second expedition which would
accord with his abilities; in short that he would be
promoted. In the usual course a young man in his
place would have been made a first mate, but when
he sailed from Stonington, the next time, he was
captain of a most important vessel, and the success
of the expedition was to depend to a large extent
upon his work.
CHAPTER IV
MASTER OF A TINY TENDER
WHEN the Hersilia returned to Stonlngton,
bringing a story of new seal islands
discovered near the place where the
mythical Auroras were supposed to lie, and vAth
10,000 prime seal skins to prove the tale, she created
intense excitement along all the New England shore.
The fact that the furs were of unusual beauty was
almost as interesting as the statements regarding
the number of seals among the fslands.
Straightway, the owners of suitable vessels at
Salem, Boston, Nantucket, New Haven and New
York began to fit out expeditions to compete with
Stonington for the furs on the new group; while
the owners of Stonington vessels not only refitted
the Hersilia but they added several others and then
proceeded to build one especially for the coming
season. In all five brigs and two schooners were
provided, besides a sloop which was constructed
for the work. The names of the vessels were:
brigs, Hersilia, Frederick, Catharine, Emaline,
and Clothier; schooners Express and Free Gift. The
sloop was built for a tender or waiter-in-general
42
Master of a Tiny Tender 43
for the other vessels, and, not without reason, she
was named Hero.
In several respects the sloop was a most in-
teresting vessel. An old document shows that she
was built at Groton, Conn. ; she was owned by
W. A. Fanning and Elisha Faxon, both of Stoning-
ton, and she measured 44 40/95 tons, *'as per
register granted at New London the twenty-fifth
day of July, 1820."
The dimensions of the Hero other than her ton-
nage have been lost, but if the rule under which
she was measured for tonnage be considered in
connection with the purpose for which she was built,
it appears that she was not to exceed fifty feet long
on deck by sixteen or seventeen wide and six or
seven deep. That she was broad and shallow in
proportion to her length is certain, first, because
that was then the favorite model of all American
builders, and next because a shoal draft was neces-
sary in a vessel that was to be used for exploring
the uncharted islands to which she was bound.
By comparing her dimensions with those of the
sloops which were then employed by the hundred
on the Hudson River one may get a better idea of
just how small she was for the voyage to a region
300 miles below Cape Horn. For some of the
Hudson River sloops were of three and even four
times her tonnage although they were designed for
inland water traffic. For another comparison it
may be noted that she was less than half as long
44 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
as the yachts which competed for the Americans
cup in July, 1920. Ordinarily she spread two or
three sails to the wind, a big mainsail and one or
two jibs; but when the wind was fair she set a
great squaresail. Because of the relative size of
the mainsail the sloop rig is much harder to handle
in heavy weather than a schooner of the same size
of hull. It was for this reason that the tender of
the Wilkes exploring expedition was built with two
masts.
As to the shape of the Heroes hull it is to be noted
that while one which is broad and shallow is ad-
mirably adapted for sheltered and smooth waters
it is dangerous on the open sea. For, if a broad
hull fifty feet long falls off from a storm wind
until she is broadside to it, and is rolling in the
trough of the sea, a curling wave is likely to hit her
under the quarter as she rolls and turn her bottom
up instantly. The records show that even experi-
enced Yankee crews have been thus imprisoned and
lost.
The most important work for which the Hero
was designed was exploring the island group. She
was to sail here and there along the coasts and
among the reefs to search for the rookeries sure
to be found there; and this work would be all the
more important because many competing vessels
were to go to the South Shetlands during the ensuing
season.
s c
Oh 0*
Master of a Tiny Tender 45
Whaleboats might have been used for the ex-
plorations, and they were so used by other vessels
of the fleets; but the Stonington men had seen that
the group was more than 200 miles long and that
the coast line would measure thousands of miles
In extent. Something larger and more seaworthy
than a rowboat, and yet smaller and handier than
the schooners, was needed — a vessel, in short, that
could enter all sorts of harbors and skim all sorts
of beaches and reefs.
Because of the character of the work the Hero
was to do and because of the vile weather In which
It was to be done, a master was needed who was
at once venturesome, courageous, and withall able
to handle a sloop rig; and young Nat Palmer was
the man chosen to fill It. His mate was named
Phlneas Wilcox.
Carlyle, In one of his essays on the Vikings, notes
that they made their voyages In vessels which car-
ried them low down In "the moaning brine," and
that such voyages gave them a superior training.
The little sloop Hero, with her gunwale a foot
out of water when In port, and her lee rail burled
in the froth when at sea, afforded just such a school
for Captain Nat Palmer. BjornI, who sailed from
Jutland to go to Greenland to drink Christmas ale
with his father, and while on the way was driven
by storms to the coast of America — BjornI was
trained in no better school, and he showed no more
46 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
courage than the boyish sailor of the sail who com-
manded a smaller vessel among the reefs and ice-
floes 300 miles below Cape Horn.
The Stonington records contain some interesting
data concerning the fleet of 1820-182 1. For ex-
ample, upon a worn and ragged slip of paper is
written a list of supplies, as follows:
Memorandum Sloop Hero.
Two composition rudder braces and two do.
pintals for hanging rudder with the bolts and nails
for do.
200 sheets, half 18 oz. half 20 oz. Best London
copper.
150 2 inch composition nails for sheathing
coppering.
150 I inch composition do for coppering.
300 Best smoothing sheeting paper.
7 Bolts best Russia duck 6 ditto Bear Rowans.
A sheet or charts of So. America from the
Equator to the highest South Latitude beyond
Cape Horn. These can be got at Patton's. A
sheet of charts of all the Atlantic Ocean.
To a sailor the fact that spare pintals and rudder
braces and sheathing copper were carried is most
Interesting. For these extras show that the sloop
was expected to strike on some reef among the
islands, and so wreck the rudder and break in the
Master of a Tiny Tender 47
bottom planks — after which, however, she was to
be hauled off and repaired. They would never give
up the sloop.
The same paper carries a list of the supplies pro-
vided for two of the brigs and from it we obtain
an Idea of what all the crews had to eat and drink,
as follows:
60 hhds. Navy Bread
60 bbl. Mess Beef
40 bbl. Mess Prime Pork
4 bbl. white Beans
4 do. Peas
4 do. Vinegar
10 qt. Mustard
2 gr. chest Campay tea
30 do. Pepper
4^ bbl. Rum
4 bbl. Gin
6 tt. Codfish
2 boxes dip Candles
1 do. Sperm to be divided
2 boxes Soap
8 bbl. kiln dried Corn Meal
4 bbl. Corn
50 bushels potatoes
3 bbl. dried apples
Sy2 Rice
12 bbl. Flour
220 tt. Coffee
48 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
Then follows a long list of ship stores which
Included lumber, spikes, paint, spare oars (forty
that were i6 feet long and twelve that were
from 21 to 24 feet) ; tools, boat anchors, tar, whale
line, fish lines, guns and ammunition. When all
these stores had been written down the maker of
the memorandum returned to the kind of supplies
found at the head of the list and added these :
5 doz. Fowls
5>4 bbl. Sugar
2y2 bbl. Rum
2j^ bbl. Teneriffe Wine.
The implements needed In taking the seals and
preparing the skins were these:
200 hoop poles
8 doz. skinning knives
6 doz. steels for do.
2^ doz. skinning knives to be made by R.
Brown
^ doz. beaming knives to be made by do.
The hoop poles were cut from hickory saplings
and were perhaps ten feet long and say an inch or
more in diameter at the small end. Each pole
afforded two clubs with which the seals were knocked
in the head. In later years of the fishery the poles
were cut up at home and each end was protected
with an iron ring, because, in the hurry and excite-
ment of the killing, the men frequently missed a seal
and struck a rock instead, thus rapidly wearing the
Master of a Tiny Tender 49
clubs to a frazzle. Later still (1880) the sealers
used rifles because the seals were so wild it was im-
possible to take them with clubs.
Perhaps the lists of food supplies should receive
further attention — at least to note that the men had
plenty to eat and drink. In referring to the food
supplies of the sealer Neptune, which was at the
Falklands in 1797, the supercargo, Eben Townsend,
wrote :
"A sealing crew want a good stock of bread,
molasses and peas for coffee, and they can get along
with little beef and pork; but to be out of bread,
or molasses for sweetening their coffee, is very un-
comfortable. They get very much attached to what
they call slops, which is tea and coffee, in this cold,
uncheerful country." To this he adds : "They cook
the haslet [heart and liver of the seal], with the fat
of the seal both for fuel and fat, and it tastes very
much like a hog's haslet."
Of course the numerous birds and their eggs were
used as food, and the sealers caught many fish.
That the Stonington fleet was well supplied with
material for "slops" and the much-needed sweeten-
ing is apparent. They also had a plenty of flour
and dried apples for duff. As a matter of fact,
American ship owners as a class always made boast
of the amounts of food supplied to the seamen. The
crews were required to work hard, but never on
empty or half-filled stomachs. The exceptions to
50 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
this rule have been so often described by unfriendly
writers that the usual conditions found on American
ships have been obscured. American sailors were
always fed better and were really more comfortable
than those on any other ships afloat.
CHAPTER V
CRUISING AMONG THE SOUTH SHETLANDS ,
THE log book of the Hero, while under the
command of Captain Palmer during his
second voyage to the South Shetlands, is
a most interesting and valuable historical document
because the little vessel was then sent on an expedi-
tion to look for seals during which a long stretch
of the Antarctic Continent was explored for the
first time — the coast which now bears the name of
Palmer Land. The ordinary log book used by
whalers and sealers, in those days, consisted of a few
hundred large sheets of soft writing paper folded
once, sewed with a stitch or two of sail twine to
form a book, which was then bound with a piece of
canvas cut from an old sail. The log of the Hero
was a blank book manufactured for the purpose.
It was something like an old-fashioned diary. The
leaves of this book are made of a soft writing paper,
each being 8x13 inches large. Ruled spaces at the
top of each page are provided in which to write the
date, the course made by the ship, the character of
the weather and the latitude and the longitude, each
as determined by observation and by dead reckon-
ing. Below these ruled spaces were ruled lines which
51
52 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
were numbered for each hour of the day and on
these lines were to be written whatever notes the
captain or his mates might wish to make.
On the first page of the cover (a stout, flexible
paper) is a printed title, with a picture of an old-
fashioned ship under all plain sail. Below that is
an advertisement of the publisher. The whole title
is as follows :
The
Seaman's Journal
Being An
Easy and Correct Method
OF
Keeping the Daily Reckoning
OF A
Ship,
During the Course of Her Voyage.
The advertisement announces that "J. Desnoues,
printer, 1 1 Nassau Street," Issued the volume and
that It was "sold by Samuel A. Burtus, at his Book
Store and Lottery Office, No. 19 Peck Slip, corner
of Water Street," New York.
To prestrve this book during the voyage. Captain
Nat covered It with canvas, neatly hemmed and
sewed on. Inside of the back of this canvas cover
is a pen-and-ink sketch of a two-masted schooner,
carrying all plain sail. Including a square fore top-
sail and topgallant sail, In a spanking breeze — a
live picture In spite of the material upon which it
was drawn. One may suppose that the boyish cap-
Cruising Among the South Shetlands 53
tain drew it with the schooner Express, of which it
is a picture, under his eye at sea.
The first entry in the log, dated August i, 1820,
reads :
"Commences with fair weather with breeze from
W S W. At 6 P M made Block Island. Bore by
compass N N W ^ W distant about 4 leagues from
which I take my departure. Course S E by E."
The writing is small, ornate and easily read, save
where the ink has faded or has been worn away by
handling. The spelling is with rare exceptions cor-
rect and the few mistakes are manifestly due to in-
advertence rather than ignorance.
Ships' logs are always monotonous records of
weather, speed, course made, and so on, and the
Hero's is no exception in this respect during the pas-
sage to the Falkland Islands. But it may be noted
that while all the vessels of the fleet had sailed to-
gether from Stonington, only the Hersilia and the
Express were in view of the Hero on the 5th of
August. Each was making the best speed possible
for the destination, regardless of what the others
might do. After the 5th the Hersilia disappeared,
but the schooner Express and the Hero were in
company all the way to the first port.
The entry dated August 6 says that the weather
was ''dark and glowery," but the young captain "set
squaresail," after which a heave of the log showed
that the sloop was making eight knots. That day's
54 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
run — from noon of the 6th to noon of the 7th —
was 160 sea miles. The best day's run of the pas-
sage was 175 sea miles, which was a notable achieve-
ment for a fifty-foot boat.
On October 17, 1820, the entry reads:
^'Commences with fresh gales from S West and
clear weather. At ^ past i made the land bearing
S E & S W. Stood in for it. At 4 P M bore away
before the wind, running alongshore the whole
night. At 6 A M made the Volunteer Rocks. At
10 anchored in Berkeley Sound. Found there two
shallops belonging to ship G. Knox. The Express
in company."
Berkeley Sound is in the northeast corner of the
Falkland Islands. From this anchorage the Hero
and the Express worked west along the north coasts
of the group, gathering fresh meat, wild fowl and
so on, for several days. Other vessels of the fleet
were met on the way. On October 27, at 4 P. M.,
"Got under weigh for Staten Island. Soon after
we were boarded by a boat from the Catharine who
informed us that one of her boats had upset, and
that Perry, the officer, and another had drowned —
that two men were left hanging to the boat. Took
the boat in tow to look for them. At 8 being down
almost to Kidney Island, the boat left us."
The loss of four men, thus briefly mentioned, in-
dicates the danger of the work in which the sealers
Cruising Among the South Shetlands 55
were engaged. For the lost boat had been turned
over when at sea and it had then gone adrift where
the other boat's crew and the men of the Hero
were unable to find it.
The Hero with the Express entered Woodward
Harbor, Staten Island, on October 31. Several
days were spent in gathering fuel and exploring the
coast. Plenty of eggs were found, *'but all were
spoilt." Meantime "got a bulkhead chimney built
in the caboose." The sloop's rigging was carefully
overhauled to see that every part was fit to withstand
the hurricane blasts of the far South. One day the
sloop's crew "went down the harbor sealing and
got seven."
The two vessels left for the Shetlands on Novem-
ber 5. "Heavy gales, rain, fog and snow" were
encountered on the way down, but on the 8th the
weather was pleasant and the wind fair; so all hands
were "employed grinding knives" ready for skin-
ning the seals.
On the 9th the log says "we are anxiously look-
ing for land. Plenty of penguins, whales and gulls
about us." They saw Smith Island, the next day,
and squared away for a harbor in Ragged Island,
which lies off the southwest coast oT Livingston,
(Powell's chart), but vile weather kept them at
sea until the 1 2th when this entry appears :
"Commences with thick weather, fresh breeze N
by E. At 4 P M saw Castle Rock. Stood in for
Ragged Island. At 8, being in the mouth of the
S6 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
harbor, we were boarded by a boat from the
Hersilia, Capt. Sheffield. He Informed us that he
had been In 12 days, and that the Frederick and
Free Gift, Captains Pendleton and Dunbar, were In
a harbor on the opposite side of the strait. At 10
came to alongside the Hersilia. Let go the sheet
anchor in four fathoms of water."
Captain Palmer then called away a boat and
crossed to President Harbor, where the vessels
mentioned were at anchor. In order to report to
Captain Benjamin Pendleton, the commodore of the
fleet. While there he learned that there were "no
seals up" — the season was not yet open.
The next day the Hersilia, the Express and the
Hero were all anchored in President Harbor.
From subsequent entries It appears that the vessels
were taken to this harbor because a great stony
beach, to which the seals were sure to come, was to
be found near the port. Lumber and sails were
landed with which to erect shacks for the men to live
in when working the rookeries. While this work
was in hand, fog with rain and snow commonly pre-
vailed, but when a pleasant day finally did come the
log of the Hero notes that her captain and Captain
Dunbar went "shooting gulls, chickens, &c. with
great success," after which "Capt. Dunbar with Mr.
Pendleton dined with us."
Nearly all the furs taken by the Stonington fleet
in 1 820-1 82 1 were secured by men who built camps
Cruising Among the South Shetlands 57
near large rookeries, and from day to day killed
as many seals as they could by hard work handle.
The killing did not frighten the seals that remained
undisturbed meantime. It was the custom to "cut
out of the herd" a "bunch" (if one may use the
cowboy terms) and drive them slowly up the slope
of the beach — slowly because undue haste heated the
seals and injured the fur — and then, when a few
rods from the main herd, knock them down with
clubs.
The seals thus segregated did, sometimes, make
a dash for the sea and sailors who tried to stop
them were often thrown violently on the wet rocks.
Occasionally a man has been killed in that way. But
the main herd was never seriously alarmed by such
a flight, and the slaughter was continued from day
to day until the valuable animals had all been
secured.
As the record shows the rookery adjoining the
camp on President Harbor was the resort of a great
herd, but Commodore Pendleton perceived, even
before the seals hauled out, that it would not furnish
enough skins for his entire fleet, and he therefore
ordered Captain Nat to go in search of others.
The Hero sailed on this exploring expedition at 2
o'clock in the afternoon of November 15, and, as
the log says "stood over for Deception, course E
for the north head. ... At 8 being close in with
the land," tacked off shore for the night. "Middle
part thick snow storm. At 12 two-reefed the main-
58 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
sail" and "tacked to the East. At 5 made the land
and stood along to southard and eastard. Saw
what we thought to be a harbor. Lowered down
the boat and examined It but were disappointed.
Stood along the southard. Saw an opening — stood
in — found it to be a very spacious harbor with very
deep water — 50 and 60 fathoms. Got out the boat
to sound," and "found anchorage about a mile and
a half from the mouth. At 1 1 we came to in 18
fathoms off the mouth of a lagoon. Went on shore
and got some eggs. Ends with thick weather and
calm."
That is to say this little sloop was adrift through-
out the night upon an unexplored sea. A snow
storm that shut off the view in all directions pre-
vailed and the wind was so heavy that the sail was
reefed. It was reasonable to expect that reefs were
to be encountered down wind and icebergs and floes
were adrift on all sides. But neither the discomforts
nor the dangers gave the crew of the Hero a
moment's worry.
The harbor in Deception Island Into which the
sloop sailed is referred to many times in the log
of the Hero under the name of Port William, but
it was later named Yankee Harbor and it Is so
called now. The Island was named Deception dur-
ing the previous voyage and the name was descrip-
tive because, as seen from all sides but one, it
seemed to be a solid cone about seven miles in
diameter and rising to height of from four to six
Cruising Among the South Shetlands 59
hundred feet above the sea. When viewed from
the southeast, however, the entrance which the log
mentions was to be seen; and on sailing in, a circular
harbor about five miles in diameter was discovered.
The island was therefore manifestly the top of a
volcano, the crater of which, five miles in diameter,
formed the harbor.
Because this harbor afforded a perfect shelter it
was made the port of refuge of five of the Stonlng-
ton fleet. A year later it was used by another sealing
fleet, and later still it was used by two British sur-
veying expeditions. The descriptions which have
been published by various captains show that it was
a most interesting place. Thus one captain thought
the entrance was 200 feet wide and another called
it a cable's length. In the entrance the water was
seven fathoms deep ; at the deepest point, which was
the center of the harbor, it was 97. The beaches
all around the interior were narrow. Smoke arose
continually from small vents around the rim, show-
ing that the volcano was by no means dead. At
several points on the beaches hot springs boiled forth
and one on the northeast side of the crater had
such a flow that the water of the bay was warmed
for a space of several boat-lengths from the beach;
and this, too, although a glacier rested but a few
rods away. It was possible to throw a piece of ice
from this glacier into water hot enough to boil eggs.
The warm water space was the resort of innumer-
able birds, especially penguins, which seemed to
6o Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
enjoy the warmth very much. Of course the sailors
found bathing there delightful.
Findlay's "Sailing Directions" says that "a species
of coal was found" by the British warship Chanti-
cleer, "which burnt very well."
As noted, five of the Stonington fleet came to
Yankee Harbor. This move was hastened because
the brig Frederick, the flagship of the fleet, while
lying in President Harbor, was driven from her
anchors by a heavy storm and narrowly escaped
going on the beach.
After exploring Yankee Harbor, the Hero cruised
to the north around Livingston Island and found
several rookeries. One of the memorable incidents
of the cruise after leaving Yankee Harbor was the
result of an effort to run through a strait. The
Hero grounded on an unseen ledge, but because the
venture was made when the tide was rising she soon
floated clear. Then, while the captain was making
some needed repairs, he observed a whale head
boldly into the strait, and by watching the course it
followed he learned the lay of the channel.
"Where a whale can go I can follow," he re-
marked, and he then sailed through, but these words
are not found in the log. Note of them was made
at Stonington.
Having located enough beaches to keep all hands
busy, the Hero returned to the fleet, that was then
in President Harbor, and she was lying there when
the storm almost wrecked the Frederick. She then
Cruising Among the South Shetlands 6i
went with the fleet to Yankee Harbor (November
24), and thereafter was employed carrying supplies
from the ships to the camp at President Harbor
and skins from the harbor to the ships.
In the first of these trips as a freighter, the Hero
arrived off President Harbor at 10 o'clock in the
morning of November 26, and found 465 skins
ready for transportation to Yankee Harbor, the
first that had been secured there. The herd was
just beginning to arrive at these islands, and the
date was just a month later than the first arrivals
at the Falklands, showing that the vast herd mi-
grated from the north to these breeding grounds.
The number of skins awaiting transportation at
subsequent trips is not mentioned until that made
on December 3d when the number was 905. On
the next trip — she arrived off the camp on the 7th
— the number was 10,000. These skins, when car-
ried to the vessels in Yankee Harbor, were dis-
charged from the sloop between the hours of 7
P, M. and midnight. As soon as the skins were out
the Hero sailed once more for President Harbor,
regardless of the fact that her crew had been doing
a long hard job.
Meantime the log notes that other vessels were
passing to and fro among the islands. On December
9 a ship and two shallops came to Yankee Harbor.
On the 1 6th the Emaline and the Catharine came.
They brought skins, taken on the north side of Liv-
ingston Island. The brig Clothier had been with
62 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
them but a heavy gale, which they had survived,
had driven her on the rocks. The wreck was to be
seen there many years later. It may yet be visible.
On the whole the log shows that while Captain
Palmer and the sloop's crew now had no part in
the work of killing the seals, they were engaged in
loading the skins from the time they arrived off
any one of the camps (for others were established)
until all were on board. Then they hoisted anchor
and made sail for Yankee Harbor, standing watch
and watch while on the way. At the harbor they
helped discharge the skins on board one of the
vessels there, took on supplies for the camp, and
then made sail back to one of the camps. They
took such sleep as they had to have while standing
watch and watch between destinations. And they
boasted of their ability to work thus. It was char-
acteristic of the Yankee sailor of the sail to brag,
and they all had something to brag about; but none
made good in quite the manner of the sealers.
The fact that the Heroes crew worked for an
extraordinary number of hours every day is a matter
of especial interest in this tale of the sea. When
opportunity to sleep was offered them they were
exceedingly glad to turn into their bunks without an
instant's delay. So a time came when the young
captain was so tired at the end of his day's work
that even the small task of writing up the log in
formal fashion seemed too great; and at the same
time it seemed really needless to do so. For the
Cruising Among the South Shetlands 63
entries, while the Hero was serving as freighter
between President Harbor and Yankee Harbor,
were almost precisely alike. For a time Captain
Nat, being tired, wrote such entries as the following :
"Tuesday, December 19th, 1820
"Commences pleasant strong gales from S W
"Wednesday, December 20th.
"Commences moderate light breeze from south."
On Christmas day the entry made was:
"Monday 25th
"Commences with heavy gales from N E with
snow."
Thereafter each day's entry ran in similar fashion
until February 19th, when he wrote:
"Friday 19th."
That and nothing more. Then for three days
there was no entry whatever, but on the fourth day
he began to write up the log in shipshape fashion
once more, because on that day he cleared the har-
bor and sailed for home.
And yet, during this interval of slack log writing
Captain Palmer had been ordered to go a second
time in search of other seal islands and while he
was thus engaged he had discovered that part of
the Antarctic Continent to which his name was
given, and he cruised along the coast to 68 degrees
south latitude — or more than 200 miles from
Yankee Harbor.
CHAPTER VI
EXPLORING THE ANTARCTIC COAST
TWO accounts of the incidents which led to
the sending of the Hero on an exploring
expedition along the coast of the Antarctic
Continent have been printed. One is to be found
In Edmund Fannlng's "Voyages Round the World,"
and the other in "Stonlngton Antarctic Explorers,"
by Edwin Swift Balch. Fanning says (p. 435) that
"from Captain Pendleton's report, as rendered^'
on the return of the fleet to Stonlngton, "it appeared
that while the fleet lay at anchor in Yankee Harbor,
Deception Island, during the season of 1820-21,
being on the lookout from an elevated station, on
the mountains of the island, during a very clear day,
he had discovered mountains (one a volcano) in
the south. This is what is now known by the name
of Palmer Land."
In the other account it is said that young Palmer
first saw the land and the captain's niece, still living,
remembers hearing him say definitely that he thus
saw the land. Some writers have thought the two
accounts contradictory, but they are not necessarily
so. The facts In the case seem to be as follows :
The rookery at President Harbor was being
64
Exploring the Antarctic Coast 6^
depleted rapidly. The decrease naturally led all the
captains of the vessels In Yankee Harbor to talk
about a search for another rookery, and this search
seemed to be all the more needed, as time passed
and competing vessels gathered the skins from other
known rookeries. All the other known rookeries
were. In fact, occupied by sealers. It was therefore
decided that Captain Palmer should make another
cruise with the Hero. It was for such work that the
sloop had been brought.
Before going on such a cruise it was natural that
Palmer should go up to the highest point on the wall
of the old crater, at a time when the air was per-
fectly clear. In order to see If any other Islands were
visible. It was also natural that Captain Pendleton
should go. The direct statement that the young
captain went Is to be believed because he was known
to be unusually farslghted. Throughout his life he
was able to distinguish objects at much greater dis-
tances than ordinary seamen. At the same time
there is no reason to doubt the statement that
Pendleton went. It Is easy to believe that both
Pendleton and Palmer went together, and when
Pendleton made his report at Stonlngton he Inad-
vertently omitted to mention that Palmer went with
him.
On reaching the high point on Deception Island
the southern horizon was examined — the southern
because the fleet had been working around all the
islands at the north. So the loom of land was seen
66 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
in the far south with what looked like an active
volcano, and the Hero was thereupon ordered to
sail away and learn if any seals were to be found
there.
Copies of two entries in the log of Captain
Pendleton's brig Frederick are among the records
now to be found at Stonington. They are as fol-
lows :
"Jan'y 14, 1821. Sloop Hero, Capt. N. B.
Palmer, sailed to eastward to look for more Is'ds."
''Jan'y 28th, /21. 6 A M the sloop came in after
examining northeast and southwest to their satisfac-
tion. Found none."
It was therefore on January 14 that Captain
Palmer sailed from Yankee Harbor on the voyage
which was to place him beside Columbus in so far
as he and Columbus were the only known men who
have discovered continents ; for the name of the man
who discovered Australia is not known.
To appreciate the dangers of the voyage upon
which the captain was bound it is only needful to
recall the fact that he was under orders to explore
a region, to the east as well as the south, which had
never been visited by men; that he was to work his
way among floating fields of ice and uncharted reefs;
that hurricane squalls with blinding snows were sure
to overtake him at frequent intervals, and that if
the Hero were pinched between icefloes or stranded
on the rocks there was no hope of a rescuing party
Exploring the Antarctic Coast S7
ever finding the wreck. But Palmer and his men
faced the dangers with insouciant minds and even
with pleasure. They were thrilled with a feeling
that is now lost because there is but little of the
world left to explore.
Of this remarkable expedition it appears that no
account was ever written by a member of the Heroes
crew; or if one was so written in the back of the
log book, as has been surmised, it was torn out
and destroyed. But on his return to Yankee Har-
bor, Captain Palmer told the commodore and other
captains what had occurred. After he returned
home he also related his story to his family and
friends. In later years, when he was in command
of the clipper Howqua, in Hong Kong, China, he
was invited to tell the story to Admiral Sir John
Francis Austin, at the American consulate; for
the admiral had observed that the arm-chair
geographers of Europe were disposed to ignore
Palmer's exploration and with a sailor's love of fair
play he asked the captain for the facts in the case.
The various accounts which the captain thus gave
were in several instances written down by those who
heard them. Consul Frederick T. Bush, of Hong
Kong, wrote what he heard, and his version was
later printed in a New London paper. Edmund
Fanning wrote the story as he gathered it from
Commodore Pendleton after the expedition re-
turned home. When, beginning in 1828, an effort
was made to induce Congress to send a naval explor-
68 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
ing expedition to the far South and the Pacific (an
effort which eventually resulted in the Wilkes expe-
dition), Mr. J. N. Reynolds, an active promoter
of the movement, gathered and wrote an account
which he used in his propaganda. This one was
printed in the Army and Naval Chronicle^ Vol. III.
Another account appeared in the North American
Review in 1834. Each of these versions inevitably
contains some statements not found in the others,
and the whole have therefore been combined here
to give the story In as full detail as possible.
When describing his adventure to Admiral Austin
the captain said:
"I pointed the bow of the little craft to south'ard
and with her wings spread, the mainsail abeam, and
the jib abreast (on) the opposite bow, she speeded
on her way like a thing of life and light. With her
flowing sheet she seemed to enter into the spirit
which possessed my ambitions, and flew along until
she brought me into the sight of land not laid down
on my chart."
The tops of two mountains were first seen, and
then lower land, trending away in both directions,
appeared as the Hero drew near. The highest peak,
named Mount Hope by explorer Wilkes, was in
latitude 63° 25' S and longitude 57° 55' west. It
was a rugged, verdureless land, with bare rocks and
glaciers mingled every^vhere within view — a most
desolate region, and yet, as seen when the sun was
Exploring the Antarctic Coast 69
shining, with the green waters along shore dotted
with gleaming ice cakes, and with the air filled with
thousands of gray and black petrels and white cape
pigeons, it was strikingly beautiful.
Fanning's account of what Palmer thus observed
is as follows :
"He found it to be an extensive mountainous
country, more sterile and dismal, if possible, and
more heavily loaded with ice and snow than the
South Shetlands; there were sea leopards on its
shore but no fur seals; the main part of the coast
was icebound, although it was in the midsummer
of this hemisphere, and a landing consequently
difficult."
So far as the weather was concerned the young
Captain had much better fortune than he had any
reason to expect; but the fogs were frequently so
thick that he was obliged to lay to at midday and
wait until they thinned away lest he strike the ice or
a reef. And it was because of the prevailing fog
that he had one of the most startling experiences
recorded in the histories of the explorers.
The Hero, in her return, had left Mount Hope
on the north point of the mainland astern, late one
afternoon, when a fog, so dense that the man at
the tiller could not see the man on lookout at the
bow, shut her in. She was then hove to in the usual
course — the sails were arranged so that she would
make as little headway as possible — and then all
70 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
hands settled down with such patience as they could
summon, to await the coming of the next day. Al-
though the breeze was light and the sloop drifted
but slowly before it, the captain and his mate (Mr.
Phineas Wilcox) kept vigilant watch all night for a
change in the weather as well as for rocks and ice.
The men (there were six before the mast) were
placed on lookout at the bow and waist while the
officers paced the quarterdeck.
At 12 o'clock that night Captain Nat came on
deck to relieve Mate Wilcox. The captain paced
the deck, as all ship officers do when on watch at
night, until 12.30 when he struck the sloop's bell
a single tap. It was a part of the regular routine
which had been followed ever since Stonington had
been left astern.
But when the sound of the ball rang through the
fog, an answering stroke was heard off one bow
with a second one off the opposite quarter.
"The response startled me," said the Captain,
when relating the story in Hong Kong, "but I soon
resumed my pace, turned my thoughts homeward
and applied myself to building castles in the air,"
until one o'clock. Then he "struck two bells that
were answered" as before.
"I could not credit my ears," declared the Cap-
tain. "I thought I was dreaming," because, "save
for the screeching of the penguins, the albatrosses,
the pigeons and the Mother Cary chickens, I was
Exploring the Antarctic Coast 71
sure no living object was within leagues of the
sloop."
The sailors, being more superstitious, believed the
sounds were of supernatural origin, and even Mate
Wilcox expressed the same idea when he declared
the sounds were "tricky." To the sailors the
sounds were not a little fearsome and to all very
mystifying.
At 3.30 o'clock the mate came on deck and as-
serted that he heard human voices. A little later
the fog suddenly cleared away, when the mystery
was solved; for a fine frigate was seen off the sloop's
starboard bow, a sloop of war off the port quarter,
and a ship's cutter, full-manned and under the com-
mand of an officer in uniform, was soon seen coming
to the Hero.
Meantime Captain Palmer made haste to hoist
the Stars and Stripes, and the two warships then
displayed the Russian flag.
When the cutter arrived beside the sloop the
officer in command stepped on deck and explained
how it happened he had come. The two warships,
he said, had been sent out by the Czar of Russia
to explore the seas of the far South; and while
sailing to the westward they had been compelled
by the fog to lie to. The bell of the sloop had been
heard on the warships and when the fog had lifted
the cutter had been ordered to learn what vessel
it was from which the sound had come. The com-
72 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
manding officer, Capt. F. G. von Bellingshausen,
he continued, presented his compliments and begged
the pleasure of meeting the captain of the sloop
in the cabin of His Imperial Majesty's frigate
Rostock.
"I assented," said Captain Palmer, in his Hong
Kong narrative of the incident. "I at once entered
the boat, was laid alongside, mounted to the deck,
and I was ushered into the presence of the venerable
commander."
The scene as that young Yankee captain entered
the cabin of the frigate might well be reproduced
by an artist of talent. For the captain of the frigate
was seated at a table with a group of his officers,
all in brilliant uniform, around him, while the young
sealer, smooth-faced, tall and slender, was dressed
in a seal-skin coat and boots of his own make, and
he had a sou'wester on his head. To the naval
officers the boy certainly was a bizarre figure. But
when they looked into his far-seeing eyes they per-
ceived that he was unabashed and fully able to meet
them as man to man.
The captain of the frigate (he was made an ad-
miral on his return home and is so called in the
various narratives of this incident) arose to greet
Captain Palmer, shook his hand, ordered a chair
placed for him and then said:
"You are welcome, young man. Be seated."
The conversation which followed was as follows,
so far as remembered:
Exploring the Antarctic Coast 73
"What is your name?'*
"Nathaniel Palmer."
"Where you are from?"
"Stonington, Connecticut, U. S. A."
"The name of your boat?"
''Heror
"What are you doing here?"
"On a sealing expedition. A fleet from Stoning-
ton is at work among the islands, here."
"What islands are those in sight?"
"The South Shetlands; and if you wish to visit
any of them in particular it will afford me pleasure
to be your pilot; for I am well acquainted with
them."
He also mentioned the harbor where the sealing
vessels were at anchor and added that water with
an abundant supply of wildfowl might be obtained
anywhere among the islands.
"I thank you," continued the captain, "but pre-
vious to our being enveloped in the fog we had a
glimpse of those islands, and concluded we had
made a discovery; but behold, when the fog lifts,
to my great surprise, here is an American vessel,
apparently in as fine order as if it were but yesterday
she had left the United States; not only this but
her master is ready to pilot my ships into port,
where several of his own nation lie at anchor. We
must surrender the palm of enterprise to you Ameri-
cans, and content ourselves with following in your
74 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
''You flatter me," replied the captain, "but there
is an immense extent of land still further south;
and when the fog there is entirely dissipated you
may have a full view of it from your masthead."
"How far south have you been?" asked tthe
captain.
Captain Palmer told him the latitude and longi-
tude of the point at which the Hero turned back
and described the coast along which she had sailed.
"Indeed!" exclaimed the Russian. "Then I am
entirely anticipated in my object."
He now arose much agitated and begged Captain
Palmer to produce the Heroes log book and chart.
Palmer at once sent to the sloop for them. While
waiting for the messenger to return, breakfast was
served, with Palmer seated at the side of the Russian
captain. While they were at the table many ques-
tions were asked about the seal fishery, the ports
of the South Shetlands, the hailing port of the seal-
ing fleet and about the character of the vessels
themselves.
The Heroes log and chart arrived while the two
were yet at the table, and were placed before the
Russian captain. For a time he examined them
without saying anything. Then he arose from the
table and exclaimed.
"What do I see and what do I hear from a boy
in his teens? That he is commander of a tiny
boat of the size of the launch of my frigate, in
which he has pushed his way to the pole through
Exploring the Antarctic Coast 75
storm and Ice; has sought and found the point I,
in command of one of the best appointed fleets at
the disposal of my august master, have for three
long weary years searched day and night for."
Then, placing his hand on Palmer's head he
continued :
"What shall I say to my master? What will he
think of me? But be that as it may, my grief is
your joy. Wear your laurels with my sincere
prayers for your welfare. I name the land you have
discovered in honor of yourself, noble boy, Palmer
Land."
CHAPTER VII
EUROPEAN EXPLORERS AMONG THE SHETLANDS
IN this search for new seal rookeries upon the
shore of the Antarctic Continent, Captain Pal-
mer had first crossed a space of open sea that is
seventy miles wide. This brought him to a north-
erly extension of the continent on which Is located
the volcano Mount Hope, visible from Deception
Island. When there he found the trend of the land
was, as said, to the southwest and he therefore
headed In that direction, keeping near the beach so
that he could see the seals If any were to be found
there. Bays, fiords and islands were observed along
the way, and each was carefully examined for fur.
Numbers of the leopard seal were seen but none of
any other variety. As soon as he had determined
that a beach carried no fur seals, Captain Palmer
sailed on without giving any attention to any other
feature of it. He was aware that he was coasting
land never visited by man before, but he did not
know it was of continental dimensions. In fact,
the dimensions of the lands he discovered were not
definitely or even approximately learned until it had
been explored by Larsen, in 1893; Nordenskjold In
1903 and Charcot In 1910.
76
European Explorers Among the Shetlands 77
To the young captain the land seemed simply an
unexplored island of large size, or perhaps a group
of islands, connected by ice, and so it was supposed
to be while he lived. Because he was looking for
seal rookeries and nothing else, the land had no
further interest after he learned that no seals re-
sorted to the beaches.
As his cruise is now recalled, one is prone to
imagine that he should have made a careful survey
of the coast line simply because it had never been
seen by human beings before. But the fact is there
was no inducement impelling him to do so. For
the mere discovery of unexplored islands was then
such an ordinary experience among American sailors
of the sail that little attention was given to any
new coast unless it afforded a prospect for profit-
able exploitation. It is literally true that sighting
new islands in the Pacific was a common experience
among American whalers. Captain William Smith,
who rediscovered the islands first seen by Dirk
Gherritz, was knighted, but if every Yankee skipper
who discovered an island theretofore unknown had
been thus rewarded the American corps of knights
would have far exceeded the English in number;
for hundreds of islands, including atols, were found
and charted by the whalers of that period. The
coasting of the Antarctic Continent was really less
interesting to the crew of the Hero than their pre-
vious cruise among the Shetlands had been, because
in the Shetlands several rookeries were found. For
78 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
these men were all sealers and not surveyors or
scientists.
Having cruised for at least 150 miles along the
new land — the longitude attained was 68 degrees
south — Captain Palmer came to impenetrable ice
and turned back. The weather was fairly favor-
able— no worse than that experienced among the
Shetlands. To Captain Palmer it did not seem as
dangerous as it really was. The fact that he had
sailed more than 200 miles from his friends in
Yankee Harbor, and that any disaster to the sloop
when far away would have left him and his crew
to perish miserably did not impress him.
In his work on exploration in the far South, en-
titled "Antarctica," Edwin Swift Balch writes as
follows (p. 94), about the work of Captain
Palmer :
"The account by Fanning of Palmer's first two
voyages and the chart and memoir of 1822 of
George Powell make it fairly certain: — i, that
Palmer was probably the discoverer and certainly
the first explorer of the lands lying south of Brans-
field Strait and extending for some two hundred
and fifty kilometers between about 57° 50' and 62°
20' west longitude, that is, of the northern coasts
of West Antarctica from Liege Island to Joinville
Island both inclusive: — 2, that Palmer discovered
the northern end of Gerlache Strait, which he recog-
nized was a strait and not a bay as subsequently
European Explorers Among the Shetlands 79
charted: — 3, that Palmer discovered the strait or
bay since called Orleans Channel: — 4, that Palmer
recognized that these lands were perhaps a chain
of islands: — 5, that this coast or these islands were
christened Palmer Land and that they were so first
charted in England, France and America.'*
A copy of Powell's Chart is printed In connection
with this quotation. The title of the chart is:
"Chart of South Shetland, including Coronation
Island, &c., from the Exploration of the Sloop Dove
in the years 1821 and 1822. George Powell, Com-
mander of the same. Published by R. H. Laurie,
Chart Seller to the Admiralty, &c., &c.. No. 53
Fleet Street, London, Nov'r ist, 1822." A mem-
oir, written by Powell, accompanied the chart. In
this Captain Powell said (quoted by Balch) :
"Of the land to the southward, called Palmer
Land, very little can be said, as it does not appear
to be sufficiently explored; but it has been described
as very high and covered with snow, with inlets
forming straits which may probably separate the
land, and constitute a range of islands similar to
those of South Shetland; at least, such Is the ap-
pearance of the northern side, which alone has been
explored."
Powell's chart Is of special Interest here because
In later years Palmer's work as an explorer was
either wholly ignored by British geographers or
it was discredited. For example Findlay's "Sailing
8o Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
Directions" for the South Atlantic (issued in 1883),
a standard work for the use of shipmasters, gives
several pages to descriptions of the South Shetlands
and the adjacent coast, but makes no mention of
Palmer or Palmer Land. He does mention the
American sealers, however — as follows:
"Several United States vessels have visited South
Shetland, and an American account states that some
of the harbours are very good, vessels in them
being landlocked. . . . Capt. Dan W. Clark, of
the ship Hersilia (an American), reported that
he penetrated to the 66th degree of latitude, where
he observed lands stretching further to the south,
the extremities of which he could not ascertain."
If this quotation is considered in connection with
the actual explorations of the region made by the
men from Stonington, the extent of Findlay's knowl-
edge of the region will be fully comprehended.
To Illustrate still further the former attitude of
the British geographers it seems advisable to quote
an essay on Antarctic exploration which was written
by Major General A. W. Greely for the American
Geographic Magazine (March, 19 12), in which
the following appeared:
"Dr. Hugh Robert Hill in his generally accurate
and fair-minded 'Siege of the South Pole,' 1905,
unfortunately follows the British attitude of in-
directly discrediting Palmer's story as to the Rus-
European Explorers Among the Shetlands 8i
sian admiral, saying (page lOo), 'It seems strange
that if informed of the whereabouts of Palmer
Land, he (Bellingshausen) made no reference to
that fact in his own book.'
''However, Dr. Heinryk Arctowski, a Belgian
professor, a Russian scholar, and an Antarctic
explorer and expert, supports Palmer by a citation.
In 'The Antarctic Voyage of the Belgica' (in the
Geographical Journal, 1901, 18:353-394), Arc-
towski states that 'this meeting [the meeting be-
tween Palmer and Bellingshausen] was also de-
scribed by Bellingshausen himself, as can easily be
seen by consulting the remarkable but little known
work of that eminent Russian explorer."
Bellingshausen's work has appeared in Russian
only. The title is: "Dwukratnya isiskania w'
Jujnom Ledowitom Okeanje i plawanie wokrug
swjeta, &c. ; St. Petersburg, 1831." The account of
the meeting with Captain Palmer appears in Vol-
ume 2, pages 261-264. (See Balch's "Antarctica.")
Greely adds that "it is to be regretted that Dr.
Hill failed to verify" the quotation from Bellings-
hausen's work.
Greely also calls attention to the eleventh edition
of the Encyclopedia Britannica which was "specially
Americanized" in order to promote sales in the
United States. He notes that "it admits in two
lines that 'Nathaniel Brown Palmer discovered the
mountainous archipelago which now bears his name.'
82 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
It then proceeds to give a column regarding John
Biscoe."
Palmer's discovery of the land came to be ignored
and discredited, later, because of two explorations
made by the British — one by Commander Henry
Foster, R. N., of the sloop of war Chanticleer, and
the other by Captain John Biscoe, who had been a
master in the navy but was in the employ of
London merchants when he went to the South
Shetlands.
Foster was the first of the two to go there. He
had been detailed by the Admiralty to survey parts
of the Cape Horn region. While at anchor off
Port Hatches, Staten Island, in a bad seaway, he
was seen by Captain Alexander Palmer (brother
of Captain Nat), and piloted to a safe anchorage
inside; for Captain Alexander was sealing there at
the time.
As Captain Foster and Captain Alex were both
of an adventurous disposition they soon became
friends, in spite of the natural attitude of naval
officers toward fishermen. Captain Al.ex guided
Foster to various heights of land from which good
views of the coasts and the islands off shore were
to be seen, and he fully described the waters as he
had learned them while working the beaches for
furs. Further than that, he told Captain Foster all
about the South Shetlands and especially about
Yankee Harbor as a port of refuge. Captain
Foster was thus greatly aided, of course, when he
EuTope^an Explorers Among the Shetlands 83
went, later, to that harbor to make a survey of the
archipelago.
Before leaving. Captain Foster wrote the follow-
ing letter of acknowledgement which is still pre-
served among the records at Stonington:
"These are to certify [by] the principal officers
and commissioners of his Majesty's Navy that Mr.
Alexander S. Palmer, master of the American seal-
ing schooner the Penguin, pilotted His Majesty's
sloop under my command, from her anchorage off
Dead Man's Island (Staten Island), the 26th day
of October, 1828, to the harbour of North Port
Hatchet (Staten Island), where he this day left her
moored in perfect safety. Given under my hand
on board His Majesty's sloop Chanticleer, at North
Port Hatchet, Staten Island, the 28th day of Oc-
tober, 1828.
"Henry Foster, Commander."
From Captain Alexander Palmer, Commander
Foster learned, as said, all that an InteDigent and
experienced sealer could tell him about the South
Shetlands and the various harbors there. Follow-
ing the directions given him. Commander Foster
went in the Chanticleer to Yankee Harbor, where
he set up various instruments on shore and made
a considerable survey of the entire region, includ-
ing a part of Palmer Land.
The surgeon of the Chanticleer, Dr. W. H. R.
Webster, wrote an account of the work done in 3
84 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
book entitled, "Narrative of a Voyage," &c., in
which he mentions the help received from Captain
Alexander Palmer, but not a word is said by him,
or in Foster's report to the Admiralty, about the
explorations made by Captain Nathaniel Brown
Palmer.* The chart made by Foster renames
Palmer Land. But when Foster wrote a report of
what he had done there, he omitted to give Captain
Nat Palmer credit for exploring the coast of the
continent and he did not use the name Palmer Land.
Later, two London ship owners, of whom one
was an enthusiastic member of the Royal Geographic
Society, sent a ship under the command of Captain
John Biscoe, mentioned above, to make further ex-
plorations. Biscoe sailed southwesterly to latitude
67° i' south, and longitude 71° 48' west of Green-
wich. In his report he wrote that he had skirted
"a chain of islands, extending E. N. E. and W.
S. W., and fronting high continuous land."
Findlay's "Sailing Directions" says this chain of
islands "is unquestionably the same which is marked
in the old charts by the name of Gherritz Land, it
having been discovered in 1599 by Dirk Gherritz."
That is to say, Biscoe reported the South Shet-
lands as a new discovery. Nevertheless the name
which Biscoe gave to Palmer Land — he called it
Graham Land — was used thereafter on English
charts.
* Foster was drowned in the Chagres River on his way home
from the far South.
Europ^^an Explorers Among the Shetlands 85
As Greely says, all this matter is to be regretted.
One may add that it is to be especially regretted
that the publishers of the Encyclopaedia supposed
their two-line reference to Palmer would promote
sales of their work among intelligent people in this
country.
But if the British attitude be considered without
prejudice it is found to be easily understandable.
Note first that the two British surveyors of the
region had had naval training; in connection with
that fact recall the attitude of all British naval offi-
cers of that period toward their own merchant sail-
ors as well as toward others. Their merchant
captains, as Lindsay describes them in detail in Vol.
Ill, Chap. I, of his "History of Merchant Ship-
ping," were, as a class, ignorant drunkards and
generally detestable. Lindsay's showing is quite re-
markable, and it fully explains the contempt which
the officers of the Royal Navy felt for all merchant
seamen — for of course they could not believe Ameri-
can merchantmen superior to their own.
Since Palmer was a sealer, and so was classed
with the fishermen in the thoughts of both Foster
and Biscoe, it is not a matter of great wonder that
they entirely ignored him in their reports of their
own surveys. It may seem a little remarkable that
they should also have ignored Powell's chart of
Palmer Land, but Powell was also a sealer — one
of a contemptible class, in the naval view — and
names bestowed on lands by such as he were not to
86 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
be respected by any British naval surveyor of that
day!
Even the regrettable misstatement made by Dr.
Mills should be overlooked because elsewhere in
his book he says:
"As a matter of historic justice it seems to us
that Powell's name of Palmer Land ought to be
retained." (Quoted by Greely.)
In order that justice be done the memory of Cap-
tain Palmer it is of importance only that his work
should be accurately described. This was the view
of General Greely and it is that of all other Ameri-
cans who have made a study of Antarctic explora-
tion. To this General Greely, in the essay quoted
above, added the following:
''Has not the time arrived when this glorious
phase of American maritime history should receive
full national recognition? Every textbook teach-
ing polar geography should contain the statement
that the American Captain, N. B. Palmer, first dis-
covered parts of the continent of Antarctica, and on
every official soufeh-polar map should be replaced
Palmer Land. ... It is therefore the duty of the
120,000 members of the National Geographic
Society to create a public sentiment that shall honor
in our literature and in our history the achievements
of Nathaniel B. Palmer and Charles Wilkes."
CHAPTER VIII
SUPERIOR WORK OF THE STONINGTON MEN
IT was at 6 A. M., on January 28, that Captain
Palmer arrived in Yankee Harbor, after his
memorable cruise along the Antarctic Continent
— an exploration of at least 150 miles of its coast
line. What he did thereafter among the Shetlands
is not recorded in the existing papers, but it is rea-
sonable to suppose that he continued the work of
carrying supplies to the camps of the sealers and
bringing the skins taken there back to the fleet in
Yankee Harbor. He also had the blubber of ele-
phant seals to transport to the harbor; for a number
of the men were engaged in killing those seals, the
blubber of which was tried out in kettles set up
on the beach in Yankee Harbor. The Hero, when
ready to sail for home, was loaded with this oil.
The day of departure for home was February 22,
1 82 1, and the entry in the Heroes log, that day,
was as follows:
^'Thursday, 2 2d February
''Commences with fine breeze from west. At 10
P M got under weigh for sea in compay with
Frederick, Express and Hersilia. At 1 1 were clear
from the Harbor."
87
88 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
Two of these vessels were homeward bound, the
Frederick and the Hero. The Hersilia soon stood
away to the northwest, bound to "Isld St. Mary's
In Pacific, hair sealing," and one may suppose that
her crew were not a little homesick as they left the
others astern. In fact, if they could have foreseen
the fate that awaited them, they never would have
gone to the coast of Chili. The Hersilia safely
reached her destination and secured 15,000 skins of
the hair seal — enough to yield a fine profit — but just
when ready to depart for home the vessel was cap-
tured by a Spanish officer named Benevlades who
commanded a force which was attempting to hold
the Chllenos in subjection to the Spanish crown.
The crew were made prisoners and all were com-
pelled to serve the Spanish officers in menial capaci-
ties. Captain Sheffield and most of his crew finally
escaped in whaleboats and went to Valparaiso.
Commodore Sir T. M. Hardy, commanding the
British naval squadron In those waters, at once sent
a sloop of war,* with Captain Sheffield, to liberate
the remainder of the sailors, and they were brought
back; but the Hersilia and her cargo had been de-
stroyed by the Spaniards during a battle with the
Patriots, In which he was defeated.
The log of the Hero for the voyage homeward
contains nothing of interest here until the entry of
May 7, which reads :
*The Conivay, Captain Basil Hall. The story is told in con-
siderable detail in Hall's "Chili, Peru and Mexico," Part I, Chapter
23.
Superior Work of the Stonington Men 89
"Commences with fresh gales from north. Pleas-
ant. At 6 reefed the mainsail. At 7 sounded and
got ground at 75, [figures indistinct] fathoms.
Middle part with light rain. At 10 sounded. Got
ground at 35 fathoms with soft [illegible] ooze
which indicates being in Block Island channel. At
6AM made the land. Stood in and at 10 tacked
eastward. Were about 15 miles to the westward
of Montaug Point. Ends with fair weather, light
winds N by east. Employed in various jobs."
So runs the last entry in the Heroes log. It was
a day of low visibility, as a naval officer might say,
and the Hero was carried to the westward of Ston-
ington, but she was anchored, safe at home, before
supper time, beyond a doubt, after the most memo-
rable cruise known to the history of the American
merchant marine.
Of the financial results of the expedition to the
South Shetlands a sufficient account is found in the
records which may be quoted here in part. One
faded memorandum contains the following (see
P- 90).
The item of 1,207 skins credited to "boats" is of
special interest, for one may suppose that these skins
were taken from the outlying rocks by the crews of
whaleboats in the manner already described. At
least a hundred such landings must have been made
by the sailors to secure that number. Rightly seen,
that brief memorandum is a record of daring, en-
durance and persistence rarely if ever equaled.
90
Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
pr
ime fur skins.
"The Hero brought [from] camps on the beach and put on the
different vessels the following Fur seal skins:
November 27, 1820. Sloop Hero from camp arrived with 465 Fur
skins prime skins.
Deer 2d. Sloop from camp with [illegible] 616
Sloop arrived from camp Deer 5th with. . 906
Deer 9th sloop from camp with prime.... 9790
Deer i2th sloop from camp with 5616
Deer 16 sloop from camp with 6865
Deer 19 sloop from camp with 8229
Deer 30 " " " " 8000
Jany 9, 1821 sloop from camp with 6ioi
"12 " " " " 2800
3
Novr. 27, boats.
49223
465
. 1207
50895
February 6, 1821, took on board brig Frederick, Capt. Ben., from
Brig Hersilia, Capt. James Sheffield, 12,000 prime fur seal.
The Hersilia is bound to isld St. Mary's in Pacific hair sealing."
The footings in the above column of figures are
incorrect, as the reader may determine.
The total catch of the entire fleet of sealers at
the South Shetlands during the season of 1820-
182 1 is set down in the records at 250,000. Of
this number the American vessels are credited with
150,000, of which number the Stonington fleet se-
cured 88,000. The Stonington vessels also carried
home 1,500 barrels of elephant seal oil then worth
$10 a barrel. The price received for the skins is
not given.
A little calculation shows that the 12 European
sealers averaged 8,333 skins each and the 18 Ameri-
can vessels the same number. But the crews of
the eight Stonington vessels, having taken 88,000,
Superior Work of the Stonington Men 91
their average was 11,000 each. It is reasonable to
suppose that a considerable part of this superiority
was due to the fact that populous rookeries were
found by Captain Palmer in his first cruise among
the islands.
CHAPTER IX
EXPLORING WITH THE SLOOP "jAMES MONROE"
HAVING made large profits by their expedition
of 1 820-1 82 1, the people of Stonington
naturally fitted out still another one for the
ensuing season. The vessels included the brigs
Frederick and Alabama Packet, the schooners Ex-
press and Free Gift and the sloops James Monroe
and Hero,
Two sloops were taken this time In order that
one might serve the fleet continuously as a tender,
while the other would be free to sail in search of
new seal islands. For the explorations the James
Monroe, a larger sloop than the Hero, was selected,
and Captain Palmer was put in command.
The sailing orders issued to Captain Palmer, on
this occasion, as well as the order under which he
returned home from the South Shetlands, have been
preserved and they are given here partly because
they relate to the captain's work and partly be-
cause few documents of the kind are now to be
found anywhere. The sailing orders read:
"Stonington, July 21, 182 1.
"Capt. Nathaniel B. Palmer, Sir:
"You will proceed to sea with the sloop James
Monroe the first favorable opportunity in company
92
Exploring with the Sloop '^ James Monroe'^ 93
with the brig Alabama Packet and make all despatch
for East Harbor (if you get separated from the
Alabama Packet) on the north side of Cape St.
Johns in the Island of Statten Land. On your ar-
rival at this East Harbour (which lays 2 or 3 miles
from the end of Cape St. Johns on the north side
of the cape) if you do not find Capt. Benjm. Pen-
dleton or Capt. William A. Fanning there you will
then (after taking in what wood and water you
stand in need of if not joined by one of them), pro-
ceed with all despatch for Deception harbour in
New South Iceland, where you will employ your
crew in taking Elephant blubber and mincing and
fining your casks with mixed blubber & procur-
ing seal skins until you are joined by Capt. Pendle-
ton or Fanning. It is expected you will use your
best judgment to keep your crew in harmony and
good spirits. Good usage and strict Discipline will
best do this and enable you to procure a good voy-
age, or full cargo of skins and oil, which is our first
object and wish, and we expect your best endeavor
at all times to do this. You will consider yourself
and crew and vessel mated with the brigs Frederick
and Alabama Packet, schooners Express & Free Gift
and sloop Hero, and you will share with them in
proportion to the number of their and your crews,
as Capt. Benjm Pendleton shall direct, and you will
at all time consider yourself and vessel under his
orders and directions, but in case of his inability
or absence you will consider yourself & vessel under
94 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
the orders and direction of Capt. William A. Fan-
ning, & govern your acts and proceedings accord-
ingly, and as your vessel is fitted and sent out for
the express purpose to act as a tender or shallop
to the vessels of this concern, you will at all times
consider the importance of arriving at Deception
harbour by the time that the brigs Frederick and
Alabama Packet does, and with this [blotted]
recommend to you to use your best endeavors to
keep in company and not get separated from the
brig Alabama Packet in your passage out. You will
be prudent and careful in the expenditure of your
provisions & stores & do your best to obtain a good
voyage.
"Wishing you health and prosperity, we are your
sincere friends
"E. Fanning 1 Agents for the
"B. Pendleton J Concern
*T. S. — If any Inability occurs to Capt. Nathl B.
Palmer then the next commanding officer will govern
himself strictly by the above orders.
"E. Fanning \a_„._»
*'B. Pendleton ]^^^''^^'
When ready to return home at the end of the sea-
son Captain Palmer received the following letter
from Commodore Pendleton:
«gjj.. "Shetland, Jany 25, 1822.
"You being ready you will proceed to sea and
make all possible despatch for the port of Stoning-
Exploring with the Sloop *^James Monroe^' 95
ton, consistent with the safety of your vessel and
cargo. Should necessity oblige you to stop I recom-
mend [illegible] having as little communication
with the main as possible ; I wish you to bear In mind
the Importance of as little detention as your situation
will admit of.
"Relying on your ability and active exertions to
effect the speedy close of the part of our expedition
intrusted to your charge, I am,
"Sir, yr. obt. Servt., Benjamin Pendleton.
"Capt. N. B. Palmer
Vas Monroe,''
The order to have as little communication with
the main as possible is of interest because at that
time all the Spanish American colonies were in revolt
and American vessels were harshly treated in South
American ports, no matter which army was In posses-
sion; and that is a matter to receive further con-
sideration in another chapter.
As soon as the sloop James Monroe arrived at
Yankee Harbor she fitted out for an exploring ex-
pedition along the coast of the Antarctic Continent
which Captain Palmer had visited the previous sea-
son. Commodore Pendleton hoped that In spite of
the failure to find fur seals there In the former trip
they might haul out there during this season. This
hope proved vain, but it is interesting to note that,
while all the other exploring expeditions to that re-
gion were made in large and well-found vessels
g6 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
(the tender of the Wilkes expedition was of lOO
tons burden and built with special framing for the
purpose), the sealers nonchalantly used common
coasters from Long Island Sound. While men thus
risk their lives for any good purpose the evolution
of the race is assured.
As in his previous trip along the continent, Cap-
tain Palmer carefully examined the bays and fiords
and islands found there but he did not see a fur seal,
and when in about the same latitude as before
(68^) he was turned back by solid ice.
Having returned to Yankee Harbor, Captain
Palmer was sent to the east and southeast to ex-
plore the continent still further. In this voyage a
British sealer, the sloop Dove, Captain George
Powell, sailed in company with the James Monroe.
It seems worth while to emphasize the fact that
these two sealers. Captain Palmer and Captain
Powell, worked together in entire harmony. A
small group of barren islands was discovered on
December 6, 1821, lying between 60° 30' and 60°
48' south latitude and between 44° and 47° west
longitude. The exact extent of the coast of the
continent which the two explorers traced is not
given in the records. No seals were found.
On the return of the two vessels to Yankee Har-
bor, Captain Powell suggested that, as the main-
land (supposed to be an island), found the pre-
vious year, had been named for Captain Palmer,
Exploring with the Sloop ^^James Monroe** 97
the islands discovered on the present voyage should
be named Powell's Islands; and to this all the cap-
tains in the harbor agreed.
Captain Powell also told the other sealers that,
on his return home to London, he purposed pub-
lishing a chart of the entire South Shetland region
which the sealers had thus far explored, and asked
for all the notes the others had made. To this
the sealers all cordially agreed, of course. The
facts thus obtained, added to what he had learned
through his own observations, were combined in the
chart previously mentioned.
The Stonington fleet was by no means successful
in the harvest at the South Shetlands, during this
season. The rookeries had been so badly depleted
in the preceding year that only 1,500 skins were
taken all told during this one. Accordingly, in order
to make a profit in spite of this failure, the two brigs
and the sloop Hero went to the coasts of Peru and
Chili for skins of the hair seal. Captain Alexander
Palmer, a brother of Captain Nat, sailed on this ex-
pedition as a boy on the Alabama Packet. A memo-
randum left by him says that the crews of the
three vessels which went to the coast of Chili took
27,000 skins at St. Mary's and Mocha Islands.
These the Frederick carried home, after which the
Alabama Packet and the Hero crews took 25,000
more. The little fleet also secured 1,500 barrels
of elephant seal oil. The Hero was then sold at
98 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
Coquimbo. The Alabama Packet arrived at Ston-
ington in a few days less than two years from the
day she left that port. On the whole the Stonington
venture had been profitable, even though few furs
were secured.
CHAPTER X
CARRYING SUPPLIES TO BOLIVAR
TO say to a reader who knows nothing about
the conditions then prevailing at sea, that
Captain Palmer, after his return In 1822
from the Shetland Islands, made a voyage from New
Haven to St. Bartholomew, in the West Indies, and
back. In a little less than a month, does not convey
any very startling Information. But If It were said
to one familiar with the history of the region, the
reply might well be :
''Short voyage, that, but you couldn't blame him
for carrying on.**
"Carrying on" certainly was needful when voyages
were made to any part of the West Indies, or to the
Spanish American coast. In those days. During all
the years in which Americans had had a merchant
marine, speed had been necessary if losses were to
be avoided. Ships had always carried cannon when
bound on oversea voyages. For the wars of Europe
had always Involved the Americans, and European
privateers, most of whom were little or no better
than pirates, had always considered American ships
good prizes. To escape them It was always neces-
sary to run or fight.
99
100 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
In 1822, even though the War of 18 12 had taught
European naval people that Yankee sailors were
first class fighting men, the American ships were
continuously harassed in all West India waters
because the revolt of the Spanish American colonies
had created a condition of anarchy throughout that
region. Many armed ships, from American ports
as well as from European, had been sent ostensibly
to join the revolutionists in their fight against Spain.
Some of the ablest captains who had commanded
privateers in the War of 18 12 had thus gone to the
aid of the Spanish-Americans. But while they as-
serted their object was to fight for universal free-
dom, they were really actuated by a desire to plunder
Spanish shipping. Going to any Spanish-American
port which was in the control of revolutionists, they
secured commissions as privateers.
Sailing thence they searched the West India
waters for Spanish ships, they went to the coasts
of Spain with a similar intent and they even sailed
as far as Manila. But while a few were enormously
successful the many failed to find any Spanish ship
worth the trouble of looting.
Now the crews of these unlucky privateers were
engaged under a contract by which they were to
receive a share of the plunder in lieu of wages —
no plunder, no wages. And the members of the
crews were commonly men of long experience in
privateering or of no experience whatever. The
old hands, having been plundering ships for years,
Carrying Supplies to Bolivar loi
had no scruples about doing deeds of outright
piraq^ — and the officers of those vessels were
the most experienced and the most greedy men on
board. Lacking lawful plunder the Spanish-Ameri-
can pirates took such plunder as came to hand, re-
gardless of the flag involved.
When Captain Palmer made his short voyage
to St. Bartholomew, in 1822, there were many of
these piratical cruisers afloat among the West Indies.
There were also pirates under the Spanish flag
searching for American merchantmen. Having a
navy that was in every way inefficient, the Spaniards
had thought to curb the cruisers under Spanish-
American flags by declaring a blockade of all Span-
ish-American ports — a paper blockade, so called
because they were unable to enforce it. They then
commissioned armed vessels to go in search of
any ships bound to or from any of the ports upon
which a blockade had been declared. The crews
of these Spanish privateers were of the same
character as those under the patriot flags — pirates
all.
The "Naval Affairs" volumes of the "American
State Papers" contain scores of documents relating
to the pirates of both classes. On page 814, of
Volume I, for example, is a list of six of the Spanish
privateers that were fitted out at Porto Rican ports.
One, named Pancheta, was "an hermaphrodite brig,
pierced for sixteen guns, carries ten or twelve; has
a complement of 120 men."
102 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
In another document (p. 787) is the following
under date of March 2, 1822:
''The extent to which the system of plunder upon
the ocean is carried on in the West India seas and
Gulf of Mexico, is truly alarming. . . . Some fresh
instance of the atrocity with which the pirates carry
on their depredations, accompanied, too, by the in-
discriminate massacre of the defenceless, is brought
by almost every mail. . . . The committee of the
House of Representatives are induced to believe
that this system of piracy is now spreading itself to
a vast extent, attracting to it the idle, vicious and
desperate of all nations."
In proof that the system was thus spreading is
a statement in a document dated December 2, 1824,
which appears on page 22 of Volume II, as follows:
"Whole crews have been recently murdered, their
vessels burnt and their cargoes plundered and In
some instances openly sold at the Matanzas or the
Havana."
Other documents give details of the assaults upon
merchant crews which make painful reading; for
not only were these seamen cut to pieces with knives
but they were confined under hatches and the ships
were then fired, so that the crews were burned to
death.
It was while such conditions as these documents
Carrying Supplies to Bolivar 103
described were prevailing in the West Indies that
young Captain Palmer left the sealing business and
took command of a small merchantman bound to
St. Bartholomew. It was a voyage during which
he was fully justified in carrying sail to the limit,
but when the young captain recalled it in later years
the danger, if it were realized while on the route,
was entirely forgotten. At any rate when the cap-
tain mentioned this voyage it was only to tell what
he considered a good joke upon himself. A letter
written A. A. Low, the New York tea merchant, in
1875, a copy of which is among the papers at Ston-
ington, gives the facts. It says that after the sloop
James Monroe returned from her voyage to the
South Shetlands and the Antarctic Continent, she
was sold at auction at Stonington. A New Haven
ship merchant named Henry Trowbridge bought her
for use in the West India trade as a "sheep jockey,"
to use the term applied to such vessels, and Palmer
was hired to take command. The letter continues:
"I took the sloop to New Haven and put her in
condition for the voyage. She was loaded with
everything you can think of below. Even the cabin
was filled, leaving one length of berths for the mate
and myself. The deck was filled with sheep, 175
in number. On top of [above] the sheep [the]
deck was fitted with coops of fowls and provender —
a hard-looking sloop, I assure you, when ready for
sea. We sailed and in 12 days arrived at our port,
104 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
a long time in advance of vessels that had sailed
before us. Sold our cargo, half loaded our sloop
with sugar and arrived back at New Haven in 29
days from day of our departure.
"I had enough of New Haven Sheep Jockeys
and demanded my discharge, after entering the
vessel. Nothing had been said about wages. I
called on Mr. Trowbridge for settlement — a pom-
pous, fat old fellow. He said:
" 'Captain, what do you think the wages should
be?'
" 'What you think is right.'
" 'Well,' he said, 'I think as you have made the
voyage in 29 days, I think thirty silver dollars is
about a fair thing. I do not think it good policy
for a young man to have too much money. They
are very apt to make a bad use of it.' "
Most of the ship owners of that day were con-
stantly on the lookout for seamen who could make
swift passages, and the 29-day voyage to St. Bar-
tholomew led Captain Palmer to the command of
a schooner named Cadet which was in the trade
to the Spanish Main. It was, of course, a much
more dangerous trade than that to St. Bartholomew.
For not only was the captain obliged to run the risk
of meeting all the varieties of pirates in the West
Indies, but he was subjected to the whims of both
the South American Patriots and the Spanish offi-
Carrying Supplies to Bolivar 105
cials who were fighting to maintain the power of
Spain.
Only one letter and a few notes made by friends
remain to tell the story of the two voyages made in
the Cadet, but it appears that she was the property
of Baldwin & Spooner, of New York, and that both
voyages were made to Carthagena, where Bolivar
was in command. It is therefore reasonable to sup-
pose that the cargo consisted of arms, ammunition,
medicines and other supplies which an army in the
field would need. There was some trouble with
the consignee in the first voyage, the character of
which is not given, but it is plainly shown that Cap-
tain Palmer handled the matter to the satisfaction
of the owners. In the second voyage the cargo was
delivered in good order on February 25, 1824; but
when the captain would have sailed for home he
was compelled to carry a detachment of the Patriot
army to the port of Chagres, at the mouth of the
river that gave the canal builders on the Isthmus
of Panama so much trouble.
Blunt's "American Coast Pilot," issued in 1847,
quotes Capt. G. Sidney Smith, H. H. Sloop Bustard,
as follows, regarding the dangers of Chagres:
"I would not recommend its being entered, if
the measure could possibly be avoided, or to suffer
the boats to be there at night. It is perhaps, the
most unhealthy place known. The Bustard^ s cutter
io6 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
was by stress of weather, obliged to pass a night in
the harbor; the consequent loss was a lieutenant and
seven men; only one of the number attacked re-
covered. This happened between the 27th and 30th
day of November, 1827."
In spite of the deadly character of the port, Cap-
tain Palmer was detained there for a month. Of
course he suffered from an attack of the fever for
which the port was notorious, but the strength of
mind and body which had been developed in him
during eleven years of life as a sailor, and especially
during his life as a sealer, carried him safely
through. However, he lost his hair and when it
grew in again it had changed from the light color
which had characterized it theretofore to a dark
chestnut.
Up to this time Captain Palmer had been a big
boy in appearance. Now, as health returned, he
became a notable figure physically, and he developed
the commanding presence which made him every
inch a master whenever he appeared upon a ship's
deck, whether his own or another's.
After Captain Palmer recovered from the attack
of Chagres fever far enough to be able to go to
sea, he chartered the Cadet to carry Spaniards —
prisoners whom Bolivar had captured — to Santiago
de Cuba. And this purpose was accomplished to
the entire satisfaction of Bolivar, of the Spaniards,
and of the owners of the Cadet.
Carrying Supplies to Bolivar 107
Though so few details of either of the voyages
from New York remain on record, it will help the
reader to appreciate the character of the captain
to restate what he did during the two voyages to
Carthagena.
Though but twenty-three years old he was trusted
to carry a cargo that was contraband of war, to
the insurgent chief at Carthagena. On his passage
out he had to risk meeting pirates of all classes,
any one of whom would have found the Cadet's
cargo most valuable. At Carthagena he had to deal
not only with Bolivar but with a number of subor-
dinate officers who were at once proud, poverty-
stricken and, in cases, not too scrupulous in their
methods of securing the supplies they wanted. With
these. Palmer had to settle the accounts of the
schooner; from them he had to get the price of the
goods he had brought, and he did it. When trans-
porting the insurgent troops to Chagres, he cer-
tainly had a turbulent mass of humanity to deal
with. And, finally, when he carried the Spaniards
to the Spanish port of Santiago, in Cuba, he had
a still more sensitive class to deal with. Moreover,
he arrived at his destination under the odium of
having been in the employ of the insurgents — trai-
tors, in the Spanish view — and was therefore
obliged to deal with the Santiago officials under a
heavy handicap. But difficult as was his work he
accomplished it all, as said, to the entire satisfaction
io8 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
of the Insurgents, the Spaniards and the owners of
the schooner.
When a Spaniard wishes to compliment his
friends he commonly says they are muy simpatico.
Literally translated the words mean "very sym-
pathetic" ; but as used by the Spanish American they
imply full understanding as well as entire sympathy.
All the Spanish-speaking people, with whom Cap-
tain Palmer came In contact during those voyages
in the Cadet, found him 77iiiy simpatico. And entire
sympathy with full understanding bound a great host
of friends to him throughout his life.
After leaving Santiago, homeward bound, the
Cadet had to sail through the pirate-Infested waters
along the south coast of Cuba ; for the sailing route
was to the w^est along that coast to Cape San An-
tonio and thence easterly with the Gulf Stream.
The cape was then and for years thereafter the lurk-
ing place of pirates, for the reason that so many
vessels bound north passed that way.
However, Captain Palmer met no pirates in those
waters, but an experience of that kind came later
off the west coast of South America under remark-
able circumstances. The second voyage to Car-
thagena ended disastrously because the Cadet was
driven ashore on the Jersey coast, near Long
Branch. What the prevailing storm conditions were
is not a matter of record, but it Is said that Captain
Nat's brother, Alexander, was a member of the
Cadet's crew (mate) and when she stranded he and
Carrying Supplies to Bolivar 109
another sailor launched a small boat to carry a line
to the beach. The surf rolled the boat over in spite
of the skilled efforts of the experienced young sealer
who was handling her, but he and the sailor made
their way ashore and they carried the line, at that.
So all hands were saved, but the vessel was a total
loss.
Of all the misfortunes that come to a young cap-
tain none is greater than the loss of a ship. For
unless he can prove clearly that he was in no way
to blame, the underwriters blacklist him and other
owners become in like manner ill-disposed toward
him. There is then nothing for him to do but begin
over again, and he is lucky to get a berth as second
mate. But Captain Nat was now placed in com-
mand of the brig Tampico and sent once more on
a voyage to Carthagena. In spite of shipwreck as
well as in spite of supersensitive consignees, the
young captain made his way. A fourth voyage to
Carthagena was made in 1826, and after returning
home from this one he was married.
It used to be said of any young sailor that he
had a sweetheart in every port. Captain Nat had
one sweetheart only and she lived in Stonington —
Miss Eliza T., the daughter of Paul Babcock. The
two were married on December 7, 1826. Mrs.
Palmer's brother David was a famous clipper cap-
tain and, later. President of the Pacific Mail Steam-
ship Company.
The career of the young captain during the next
1 10 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
few years was typical of young American seamen
of the day. He made seven voyages in the Tampico
with his brother Alexander as mate. In some of
these he went to Europe. It appears from notes
made by a member of the family that he eventually
became owner of this vessel and that he sold her
in 1828 for $5,300, a fact that shows he was ac-
cumulating wxalth. A part of this money was in-
vested in a new schooner which was put into the
trade between New Orleans and Vera Cruz, Mexico.
He had traded to Mobile, as well as to New
Orleans.
In the meantime sufficient reasons for sending
another exploring expedition to the Antarctic waters
had been under consideration by the public — es-
pecially alongshore — and young Captain Palmer be-
came a leader in the enterprise under circumstances
of so much interest that a special chapter may be
given to the matter.
CHAPTER XI
ANOTHER MEMORABLE EXPLORING EXPEDITION
THE Story of the voyage which Captain Na-
thaniel Brown Palmer made to the Antarctic
region in 1 829-1 830, if considered as a chap-
ter in the history of the American merchant marine,
is of little less interest than that of his voyage
during which he discovered the Antarctic Con-
tinent.
To show the captain's standing in this expedition,
and more especially his mental attitude toward the
work, it is necessary to describe rather fully the
peculiar circumstances which led up to the venture.
A perusal of the periodicals of the day shows that
after Captain Palmer discovered the Antarctic Con-
tinent, and after the story of his interview with
Captain Bellingshausen, of the Russian exploring ex-
pedition, had been told alongshore, the whalers and
sealers of the New England coast began to talk
about the advisability of sending a national [naval]
expedition to survey the unvisited waters of the far
South and those of the Pacific — to do such work
as that which the Russians had been doing. That
is to say the expedition should, they said :
112 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
"(i) Search for lands which passing ships had
reported in far southern seas, the location of which,
however, was not definitely known.
"(2) Locate definitely some hundreds of islands
which had been discovered by strolling whalers in
various parts of the Pacific.
"(3) Search for lands in unvisited waters."
The sealers of Stonington were especially inter-
ested in an island which Capt. James C. Swain, of
the whaler Alliance, of Newport, R. I., said he
had seen, or which he thought he saw, while on his
way home from the Pacific with 2,300 barrels of
sperm oil. When on his way to round the Horn
he passed much further south than usual, and in lati-
tude 59° south and longitude 90° west, "discovered
an island . . . covered with snow and abounding
with seadogs and fowl." So runs the record. The
date of the discovery is not given but the Alliance
arrived home on May 21, 1824.
Capt. Richard Macy, of Nantucket, "a very in-
telligent man," who had "long been engaged in the
whale fishery," and had "shown more than usual
skill in his observations . . . discovered an island
four or five miles in extent, in south latitude 59°
and west longitude 91°, his ship passing near enough
to see the breakers. The island abounded with
seadogs, or seals, and the water was much colored
and thick with rockweed."
This observation was made on the way to the
Another Memorable Exploring Expedition 113
Pacific. When coming home from this voyage (he
reached Nantucket on April 17, 1825), Macy
sailed far south once more, reaching the 55th par-
allel, and at a point of which the longitude is not
given he "found the water much colored, abounding
with rockweed and seals."
The above facts and quoted statements are taken
from Volume IV of the "Naval Affairs" of the
"American State Papers" series, pages 695-698, and
from Starbuck's "History of American Whaling,"
pages 243 and 246. The location of the island, as
thus described, seems sufficiently definite to warrant
a search. Apparently any ship master should have
been able to confirm the discoveries with little diffi-
culty. But references to discoveries, found else-
where In the record quoted, show that both of those
whalers saw, or thought they saw, the Islands after
they had been sailing by dead reckoning for several
days. Cloudy weather prevented their verifying the
locations by observations of the sun or any other
heavenly body.
It Is also to be noted here that the "Naval Af-
fairs" volume quoted, says that even the observa-
tions of the sun, as made by the whalers under
favorable conditions, were not trustworthy. Their
chronometers were commonly out of time and they
used poor instruments in a careless manner.
The two reports of Islands upon which many
"seadogs" were seen by passing ships, aroused keen
interest at Stonlngton, which was then the principal
114 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
port of the sealers. The whalers of Nantucket were
almost as deeply Interested, however, and the matter
was fully discussed by seafaring people all along
the coast. At the same time the many islands that
had been reported from various parts of the Pacific
were considered. For all of these islands, and more
especially the low-lying coral reefs, were deadly
sources of peril to all shipping as long as their exact
locations had not been charted.
The call for a naval exploring expedition which
arose in consequence of these reports was entirely
new in America, and may receive further considera-
tion. In every newspaper discussion of the call the
fact that the British were active in making such
explorations was mentioned. The fact that the Rus-
sians, who had no financial interests in the Antarctic
seas, had sent two warships there, was referred to.
More important still was the insistence upon the
humiliating fact that American seamen were abso-
lutely dependent upon charts provided by British
surveyors whenever a deep-water voyage was to be
made. However loudly the Yankee sailor might
boast of the superiority of his ship over all others,
the British sailor always came back with a quiet
query as to where that ship got her charts.
Granting that the sealers and the whalers had a
financial interest in a naval exploring expedition, it
Is yet certain that they were also animated by a
feeling of patriotic indignation over the supine at-
titude of Congress in the matter.
Another Memorable Exploring Expedition 115
In the *'Naval Affairs" volufties quoted many of
the great folio pages are covered with letters and
memorials on the subject of a naval exploring ex-
pedition, all of which show a growing interest in
the subject. An energetic young Yankee named
J. N. Reynolds was a leader in the efforts to move
Congress. Captain Edmund Fanning, the Stoning-
ton capitalist who had made a fortune taking seals
in the Cape Horn region, was an equally influential
worker. His "Voyages Round the World," which
is yet an interesting volume of explorations, was
written when public discussion of the matter was
at its height. In connection with the propaganda
of the two men mentioned it is noted in the "Naval
Affairs" volumes that memorials were presented to
Congress, in 1 827-1 829, which were signed by Gov.
James Iredell, of North Carolina, and by Lieut.
Gov. Erastus Root, of New York. The House of
Delegates, in Maryland, passed a resolution favor-
ing the project. Hon. Linn Banks, Speaker of the
House of Delegates, in Virginia, and "a large and
very respectable number of the members of the
Legislature" also signed a memorial on the subject.
In short, public interest was aroused to a point
so high that "on May 21, 1828, the House of
Representatives passed a resolution requesting the
President of the United States" to send "one of our
small naval vessels to the Pacific Ocean and the
South Sea to examine the coasts, islands, harbors,
shoals and reefs in those seas, and to ascertain
Ii6 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
their true location and description." The resolu-
tion authorized "the use of such facilities as could
be afforded by the [Navy] Department without
further appropriation during the year."
In a letter written by Secretary of the Navy
Samuel Southard, on May 23, 1828, he said, "there
was no vessel belonging to our navy which in its
then condition was proper to send upon this ex-
pedition." However, the sloop-of-war Peacock was
ordered to the Brooklyn Navy yard to be properly
fitted for such a survey, and Master Commandant
Thomas ap Catesby Jones was placed in command
of her. Mr. J. N. Reynolds was appointed an
agent of the Navy Department to assist in provid-
ing the outfit. It was then decided to send along
a commercial expert, an astronomer, "a naturalist
with one or two assistants, and a historiographer."
Then "a second vessel was conditionally purchased
at an agreed price of $10,000" to serve as "a pro-
vision ship." This vessel was the brig Seraph,
owned and commanded by Captain Benjamin Pen-
dleton, of Stonington, the man who had been com-
modore of the Stonington sealing fleet in the expedi-
tions of 1820-1822. Pendleton had already loaded
the Seraph with a cargo for Malaga, when he was
approached with an invitation to go with the ex-
plorers, but he was persuaded to discharge the cargo
and fit out for the Antarctic. In the view of Sec-
retary of the Navy Southard, Pendleton's experi-
Another Memorable Exploring Expedition 117
ence In Antarctic waters made his presence In the
expedition imperative.
In the meantime Lieut. Charles Wilkes was se-
lected to go as astronomer to the expedition, and
Southard ordered him to provide all the Instru-
ments which would be needed for making accurate
surveys on the coasts to be explored. On this order
Wilkes purchased instruments to the value of
$1,167.50 for which he paid with his own money,
and he also bought others to the value of $3,248
for which he promised to pay.
In due time the Peacock and the Seraph were fit-
ted for the expedition and the force of scientists
was organized and held awaiting orders to join
the ships. An application was then made to Con-
gress for a small appropriation with which to pay
the running expenses of the expedition.
In the meantime, however, a national election had
been held and Andrew Jackson became President in
place of John Quincy Adams, while John Branch
succeeded Samuel L. Southard as Secretary of the
Navy. Changes in the membership of the House
of Representatives and the Senate had given the
new Administration full control of the Government.
When the application for this appropriation came
before the Senate it was referred to the Naval Com-
mittee, who, on February 23, 1829, reported that
they were well aware "that a general opinion pre-
vailed throughout the country that the measure had
Ii8 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
received the deliberate sanction of both Houses of
Congress and that the appropriation of the sum
now called for was therefore considered as a matter
of course. But . . . the committee was still of
the opinion that it was safer to delay acting."
Meantime Lieutenant Wilkes carried his bill for
the instruments, which he had been ordered to buy,
to Secretary of the Navy John Branch. The Secre-
tary told him ''that as Congress had made no ap-
propriation or done any act to countenance the or-
ders given" for purchasing those instruments, he
would not pay the bill. Wilkes was therefore
obliged to apply to Congress for "relief."
The brig Seraph was returned, "as is and where
is," to Captain Pendleton, and in order to get pay
for the loss of his voyage to Malaga and the time
and money spent in fitting her for the expedition, he
was also told to apply for "relief" to a Congress
that was hostile to everything which the preceding
Administration had done or countenanced, even
when the nation as a whole had expressed approval.
The incident was so discreditable that the facts
might well have been allowed to lie buried in the
unread archives of the period but for their effect
upon Captain Palmer and other citizens of Stoning-
ton. To them the arrogant attitude of the Jack-
son Administration seemed little short of a personal
affront, and their natural resentment took a form
which was a rasping rebuke. Congress had re-
fused to send the expedition on the ground that the
Another Memorable Exploring Expedition 119
expense was too great for the nation to bear. So
the people of Stonlngton announced that they would
send out at their own expense two vessels well
equipped, and carrying a force of scientists, to make
the desired exploration of the Antarctic region.
They acted in the spirit which had prevailed among
our sailors of the sail from the day when the keel
of the first American ship was stretched. Said Gov-
ernor John Winthrop, when writing about that
ship — the Blessing of the Bay:
"The general fear of a want of foreign commodi-
ties ... set us on work to provide shipping of our
own."
A want — any want — set the Yankee sailor of
the sail "on work." Wanting ships with which to
explore the stormy waters below Cape Horn the
people of Stonington provided them regardless of
the attitude of the Jackson Administration. Cap-
tain Edmund Fanning was too old to take part per-
sonally in such a voyage but he was able and willing
to take the lead in financing it. Captain Benjamin
Pendleton and Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
were associated with him as financiers, and together
they took the risks of the actual exploration. Two
brigs, the Seraph belonging to Captain Pendleton,
and the Annazvan (also written Anawan)^ of which
Captain Palmer was managing owner, were pro-
vided. Each captain took command of his own ves-
sel, of course. A third vessel, the schooner Penguin,
I20 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
a schooner of 84 tons, was added to the expedition
after it arrived at Staten Island, and as this ex-
pedition was notable in the annals of our merchant
marine the addition of the Penguin may receive a
paragraph, or more.
The Penguin was under the command of Captain
Alexander Palmer, the younger brother of Captain
Nat, of whom mention has been made. Captain
Alex, as he was called, had taken the Penguin on
a sealing expedition to Staten Island in 1827, with
considerable success, though he was not yet 21 years
old. He went to the same region again in 1828,
and in the month of October, while lying in North
Port Hatchet Bay, Staten Island, he met, as pre-
viously mentioned. Commander Henry Foster of
the British sloop-of-war Chanticleer, which was
surveying the coasts of the islands in the Cape Horn
region.
On his return from this voyage Captain Alex
found preparations in hand for the Stonington ex-
ploring expedition in search of the islands supposed
to have been seen by Captains Swain and Macy. He
thereupon fitted out for another sealing expedition
to Staten Island, and when there he awaited in
North Port Hatchet Bay the coming of the explor-
ing brigs Annawan and Seraph.
While these two brigs were being fitted out, not
a few items about them appeared in current periodi-
cals. Thus, Niles's Register printed two during the
Another Memorable Exploring Expedition 121
month of October, 1829. On the 3d of the month
it quoted the following from the National Journal:
"Polar Expedition. It is said that Mr. Rey-
nolds, the lecturer on and an untiring advocate of
an expedition to the south pole, although defeated
in every attempt to induce the government to aid
his enterprise, has succeeded in obtaining the assist-
ance of a party of adventurous capitalists, and is
about to carry his long cherished design into effect.
A paragraph in the New Bedford Mercury states
that Mr. Reynolds and Captain Palmer had been in
that place for some days, preparing one of the finest
vessels ever built in that or any other port, for an
exploring expedition to the South Sea. Captain
Palmer had shipped part of the crew, prepared boats
of the first construction, and obtained other articles
for the voyage. The brig was to leave New Bed-
ford, in a few days, for New York, where she will
receive on board the remainder of her outfit, previ-
ous to her departure. Nothing is said as to any
other vessel to be employed in the service, nor is
the time for her departure stated. It is understood
that the expedition is to be under the direction of
Mr. Reynolds, and it will depart accompanied by
the best wishes of the country for a safe voyage and
a successful result of the enterprise."
On October 24th the Register quoted the follow-
ing from the New York Enquirer:
122 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
"The South Sea Expedition. The brig Anna-
wan, the flagship of the expedition, dropped down
to the lower bay, yesterday, and will proceed to sea
this morning. Thus, after three years of perse-
verance and industry Mr. Reynolds finds himself
upon the ocean, in search of the undiscovered islands
of the south. In addition to the commercial impor-
tance of this expedition it is highly important in a
national point of view. Whatever lands may be
discovered by Mr. Reynolds and his enterprising
associates will become the property of the United
States. The stores of science will be Increased by
the products of far-distant islands, as yet unknown
to civilized man, and curiosity may, perchance, be
gratified by something new.
"We visited the Annawan on Thursday. She Is a
fine vessel and a very fast sailer. She is furnished
with an excellent library, and all the instruments
necessary for such an expedition. She has a stout
and hardy crew, an experienced captain, and first rate
officers. After the commercial objects of the expe-
dition shall have been accomplished, Mr. Reynolds
intends to sail round the icy circle, and push through
the first opening that he finds. Success to him.
"Mr. R. is accompanied by Dr. Eights, of Albany,
a gentleman of talents and scientific accomplish-
ments."
Editor Niles of the Register added the following
comment on the statement that any islands dis-
Another Memorable Exploring Expedition 123
covered would become the property of the United
States :
*'We much doubt this. We should suppose that
they would belong to Mr. Reynolds and his associ-
ates— if discovery can give a title! It is a private
enterprise, and we are not at all willing that the
United States should have colonies."
Another record of the expedition is found in
"Fanning's Voyages" (pp. 478-488), in a report
submitted by Captain Pendleton to Captain Edmund
Fanning, the chief financier of the expedition. This
report shows that the expedition was much more
ambitious than the newspaper accounts indicated.
For, after locating the islands supposed to lie in
the seas southwest of Cape Horn, the vessels were
to go to the North Pacific to explore the unknown
waters there. It was not doubted that the islands
below Cape Horn would be found. It was assumed
that full cargoes of furs would be secured from
them. But the furs were to be shipped home from
Valparaiso on some handy freighter, and then the
explorers were to sail on to the Alaska waters. It
was intended to go to the region where the Pribilov
Islands with their herds of fur seals lie.
Still other records of this expedition are found
in notes made by Captain Alexander Palmer, but if
Captain Nat ever wrote anything about it the manu-
script has been lost.
It appears, now, that J. N. Reynolds and a scien-
124 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
tist named J. F. Watson sailed on the Annawan.
Dr. James Eights, a naturalist living in Albany, was
also with the Annawan.
The Seraph completed her outfit at Stonington
and sailed on October i6, 1829, under orders to
meet the Annawan "at the distance of four leagues
south from the light on the east end of Long
Island." The two brigs failed to meet, however,
because of "a strong breeze from the eastward
which soon increased to a heavy gale and so con-
tinued for three days." Each brig therefore headed
away for North Port Hatchet Bay, in Staten Island,
which had been appointed for the next rendezvous.
A memorandum left by Captain Alexander
Palmer of the schooner Penguin, says that Captain
Nat, in the Annawan, arrived at North Port
Hatchet Bay, Staten Island, on January 5, 1830,
and found the Penguin awaiting him. The two ves-
sels remained in the bay until January 14, when
they sailed for the Sea Elephant Islands, in the South
Shetland group. For about a month the two crews
were employed gathering such seal skins as could
be found together with sea elephant oil. Various
harbors were visited, including Ship Harbor where
the wreck of the brig Clothier lay high on the rocks.
Soon after the Palmers left North Port Hatchet
the Seraph arrived. She remained there until Janu-
ary 22, when she sailed on to the South Shetlands.
There is no detailed account of what she did there,
but it is stated that she did not meet the Palmers.
Another Memorable Exploring Expedition 125
The Annawan and the Penguin left the South
Shetlands on February 23, 1830, and sailed westerly
to search for the two Islands supposed to exist there,
as reported by the whalers. How many skins and
how much oil they had secured meantime is not
known. But the summer season was now well spent
and the weather, bad at best, grew steadily worse
as the days passed. Snow storm followed snow
storm. The ice formed on deck and on the rigging
so swiftly that the crews were obliged to cut it away
to prevent foundering. It was with extreme diffi-
culty that they could handle the ropes and sails.
They were continuously wet with the freezing spray
and there was no fire in either the cabin or the fore-
castle by which they could warm their stiffened
limbs. But they persevered until the two brigs had
covered the region lying between the parallels of
52° and 62° 33' south latitude and the meridians of
61° and 103° 03' west longitude, wherein the islands
for which they were searching were supposed to lie.
Captain Alexander Palmer wrote as follows about
the search:
*'No land was discovered. Two voyages, as it
Is termed, were broken up. Many of the crew were
disabled. . . . This cruise furnished an example
that no sealer ever wished to imitate, namely to
search for land southwest of Cape Horn. . . . On
March 19th gave up the search, being convinced
that the reported land was not there."
126 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
In the meantime the Seraph, after taking a few
furs at the Shetlands, also sailed in search of the
islands and Captain Pendleton's report says :
"We then had a lengthy cruise of much anxiety
and suffering toward the icy region for the dis-
covery of lands to the westward of Palmer Land,
and likewise in search of the land said to have been
seen by Captains Macy and Gardiner to the south-
westward of Cape Horn, of neither of which we
were fortunate enough to make any discovery In all
that time; nor, in fact, had we the encouragement
of passing in the vicinity of any land other than that
afforded by the occasional sight of birds, seals,
drift, &c.
"By this time our crews were much worn down
by fatigue, and from their being almost constantly
wet In this region of rough sea and cold rugged
weather, with at the same time alarming symptoms
of that dread disease the scurvy making its appear-
ance; it was considered most advisable to bear up
and proceed for the coast of Chili, there to refresh
and recruit our men, and to replenish our wood and
water."
The Seraph arrived at Mocha Island on the coast
of Chili early in May and there fell in with the
Annawan and the Penguin. The three captains then
began discussing the voyage to the North Pacific,
but the crews of all three vessels at once refused to
^o. They had shipped under the lay system of pay
Another Memorable Exploring Expedition 127
— no furs, no pay. The officers were buoyed up to
endure hardship by their ambition to become known
as successful explorers. In spite of — indeed, be-
cause of — their failure thus far, they were eager to
go on, but the sailors had no such incentive and
their hope of profit had failed. There was no
attack upon the officers, but when they learned that
further exploration was before them they began to
desert in spite of the uncivihzed condition of the ter-
ritory off which they were lying. The Pendleton
report says*:
"It became necessary for Captain Palmer to put
into Valparaiso with the Annawan and deliver a
portion of his crew over to the United States consul
there. This was the cause of so great delay that It
became too late in the season to enable me to act
according to your instructions and proceed to the
unexplored parts of the northern Pacific, coast of
Japan, eastern coast of Asia, &c."
After a consultation with Captain Nat, Captain
Pendleton decided to go down to the lower end of
Chili and establish friendly relations with the
Aurocanlan Indians, hoping thus "to procure a good
collection of furs, seal skins, &c.," which could be
"forwarded home," and thus employ the crews
profitably while waiting for the next season during
which they could sail for the northern waters. But
while the crews were at first satisfied with this move,
and many hair seal skins and some furs were
128 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
secured, the sailors began to desert once more as
soon as the cruise to the North Pacific was again
discussed. It then became necessary to sail for
home before the crews were so far depleted that
the vessels could not be handled.
In the meantime Reynolds and Watson were
landed among the Indians, with whom they remained
after the vessels sailed for home, hoping thus to
establish friendly relations for the benefit of future
trade, for which it was the intention of Captain Nat,
at least, to return.
In connection with this exploring expedition it
seems worth noting that in 1841, Captain Dough-
erty, of the whaler /. Stewart, reported that he had
seen an island in south latitude 59° 20' and longitude
119° or 120° west. Then Captain Keates, of the
ship Louisa, in 1859, reported an island in the same
region. This island is marked on the chart as
Dougherty's, but it was not seen by the ship Nimrod,
which was in the locality named in 1909, nor by
the magnetic survey ship Carnegie, which was there
in 19 1 5. A letter from the Hydrographic Office,
Navy Department, Washington, dated May 5,
1 92 1, says the office has no record of Swain's
Island, and that the existence of Dougherty's
Island "is considered somewhat doubtful."
Another record of this exploring expedition is an
advertisement, clipped from a local paper, of the
"cargo of the brig Seraph, from the South Seas, to
be sold at auction on Monday, August 29, 1831, at
Another Memorable Exploring Expedition 129
2 o'clock P. M." She had brought home 2,024 skins
of the fur seal and 13,000 of the hair seal. The
number taken by the Palmers is not given in the
records, but since they were at the Shetlands in
advance of the Seraph, and also arrived on the coast
of Chili in advance, it is reasonable to suppose that
they did at least as well as Captain Pendleton. It
is likely that a small profit was realized out of the
expedition.
In spite of energy and persistence, the chief ob-
ject of the expedition remained unachieved, but even
so, and even if a loss was incurred, the work seems
now to have been worth while if only as an illus-
tration of the enterprise of the American sailor of
the sail in the days when the American merchant
marine was making its most vigorous growth.
CHAPTER XII
CAPTURED BY CONVICTS ON JUAN FERNANDEZ
WHILE the results of the expedition de-
scribed In the last chapter ended the
ambition of the Stonlngtonians to engage
in another of the kind, they were encouraged by
the outlook for trade on the west coast of South
America to make one more venture to that region.
The natives at various points on the coast were in
the habit of gathering skins of both kinds of seals,
and they accumulated the hides of cattle as well.
These they were glad to exchange for goods from
the United States. While the vast heras of fur
seals which had formerly resorted to the island of
Juan Fernandez had been well-nigh exterminated
some yet came to the beaches, and there were men
living on the island (it was a Chileno penal station)
who made a business of collecting the skins for sale
to passing whalers.
On the whole, it appeared to Captain Palmer that
a good profit might be made and he fitted out the
Annawan for trade there. Two accounts of this
voyage remain. One was written from memory by
Second Mate George Hubbard, sometime after the
brig returned home. The other was written by
Frederick T. Bush, formerly U. S. Consul at Hong
130
Captured by Convicts on Juan Fernandez 131
Kong, following an account of the voyage given
him by Captain Nat.
The Annawan carried a crew of eleven men, all
told, and Mrs. Palmer sailed with her husband.
Th fact that the wife ventured on such a voyage
shows that she and the captain enjoyed life together
so much that they were willing to risk the dangers
rather than be separated.
On the way to the Horn, as the second "mate
wrote, "we improved every opportunity of making
a passage," which means, of course, that the cap-
tain "carried on." Off the River Plate a pampero
broke the foretopsail yard, but the crew soon made
and crossed a new one, and the Annawan continued
to improve her opportunities for making a passage.
It had been said of the captain, when in command
of the brig Francis ^ in 1827, that he drove her "until
the staves," with which she was loaded, "floated
through her seams." He was making a reputation
for swift passages that was to be of value to him
later.
When the Horn was astern the Annawan headed
for Juan Fernandez. Mrs. Palmer wanted to see
the island made famous by Alexander Selkirk,
whose life there had inspired the story of Robin-
son Cr/isoe. The captain hoped to secure seal skins
and he was confident of obtaining quantities of fresh
provisions. The Annawan arrived within view of
the island on the last day of December, 1831. Says
Hubbard^s account:
132 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
"In the morning, being quite handy to the Island,
Captain Palmer took our small boat, with two sea-
men, and started for the shore, the brig lying off
and on."
About two hours later a Chlleno brig, which had
also been lying off and on, eased her sheets and ran
down within hail of the Annawan, where one of her
officers told the American crew that the convicts on
the Island had overpowered their keepers and were
in full control.
It was so. The Chilenos had supposed that the
island afforded an absolutely safe prison for their
felons, but the convicts had not only taken charge
of the island*; they were at that moment preparing
to use the Annawan as a means of escaping to the
mainland.
When the Annawan was first seen approaching
the Island the convicts had been greatly troubled be-
cause they supposed she would hasten to Valparaiso
and bring a warship to subjugate them. But when
they saw the captain on his way to the shore they
determined to capture the vessel and make their
escape In her. To this end a squad of well-armed
men was placed in ambush near the usual landing.
Wholly unsuspicious. Captain Palmer came to the
beach where he and his men pulled the boat up to
a safe distance above the tide. Then when the
three started up the slope the convicts surrounded
them, blindfolded their eyes and led them to the
Captured by Convicts on Juan Fernandez 133
prison chapel where the leaders In the mutiny were
in waiting. Any attempt to resist at that time would
have been suicidal and none was made.
When In the chapel the three were led to the
altar, turned to face the assembled mob and then
the blinders were removed. For a few moments no
one spoke a word. The captain saw before him
more than 100 outlaws of whom some were red-
handed highwaymen, and some were savage pirates,
the offscourings of the Seven Seas, who had fled to
the Chileno coast to escape the vengeance due for
crimes committed elsewhere.
Finally, one of the convicts proposed that the
captain be killed as a first step In the work of cap-
turing the Annawan. The mob shouted approval.
The captain was again blindfolded and was then
placed against one wall of the church while several
men with loaded muskets were ordered to take a
position ready to shoot him. But In the meantime,
by a sign and a spoken appeal the captain had told
any one In the mob who was able to understand him
that he was a member of the ancient honorable
fraternity of Freemasons — he begged for help In
a way that no brother Mason ever failed to recog-
nize and none ever ignored.
The convicts were a hellish crew, but among them
was one man, a political prisoner, who was a Mason;
and as It happened he was the leader who had
planned the overthrowing of the prison authorities.
Very adroitly, now, this leader explained to the
134 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
mob that It would be better to spare the life of the
captain and take him along to handle the brig in
her passage with the convicts to the mainland. Then
he ostentatiously told the captain to choose between
carrying the convicts to the mainland at a point
which they should choose, or facing the firing squad.
The captain, perceiving that this leader was a
brother Mason, at once agreed to take orders from
him. The captain was thereupon released.
When the blinder was removed from his eyes
Captain Palmer suggested that he should send
orders to his mate to prepare the brig for the com-
pany to come. This was a reasonable thing to do,
for the brig was in no shape to carry so many pas-
sengers, and he was allowed to write a note which
his sailors carried off to the brig.
First of all in the note, however. Captain Palmer
told the mate to clear out a spare stateroom, in
which bread had been stored, and put Mrs. Palmer
in it and lock the door. As thus prepared this room
was a dungeon and it was arranged so that no port,
even, was open to admit air or light; for it was
absolutely necessary to take every precaution to
prevent the outlaws learning that she was on board.
When this work was done, the mate went on with
the other preparations for the reception of the con-
victs, but long before the brig was ready, the mob
came howling off in such boats as the settlement
afforded. And when they arrived, Mrs. Palmer,
sitting in her darkened prison, heard the shrill voices
Captured by Convicts on Juan Fernandez 135
of women mingling with the coarser shouts of the
men; for there were female as well as male des-
peradoes among the convicts.
As a matter of fact, the coming of the women
was contrary to a promise made by the mob leader.
Captain Palmer had learned, as soon as he was
released from his place before the firing squad, that
the women were also determined to go in the brig,
and he had remonstrated with the leader. He had
perceived instantly that if the women were taken on
board they would necessarily be cared for in the
Annawan^s cabin. If they were taken into the cabin
they would, sooner or later, learn that Mrs. Palmer
was in the spare stateroom. But that was not all
the trouble to be feared in connection with the
women, for it was certain that the convicts would
fight over them, perhaps even before the brig could
leave the island, and how such a fight would end
no one could foresee. At all hazards Captain
Palmer was determined to leave the women on the
island.
But when the men began to enter the small boats
in order to go off to the brig, the women, being free
to roam around at will, ran down to the beach and
clambered into the boats — and here they were along-
side the Annawan, making more noise than a flock
of gulls around a dead whale.
But as they climbed over the rail, gabbling and
laughing, Captain Nat returned to the Annawan,
Ten years had passed since he had stood unabashed
136 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
before Captain Bellingshausen in the cabin of the
Russian frigate. Then he had been tall, slender
and boyish; now he was tall and powerful and of
commanding presence — a fully developed autocrat
of the quarterdeck.
Walking across the Annawan's deck to the rail
over which the women were climbing, he ordered
them all to return at once to the land. The women
screamed and squalled and begged as if they were
suffering tortures, but the convicts — the men —
instinctively obeyed the order and took them all
back to the beach. One may search the records of
the sea for all times without finding a more striking
illustration of the power of a dominating mind.
Meantime, Mrs. Palmer, sitting in the darkness
of her little prison, heard the shrieks of the women,
but did not hear the imperious order of her husband.
So she believed that the women were being tortured
and she suffered indescribably through sympathy
and through fear that she might also meet the fate
which seemed to come upon them.
In time the male convicts were all taken on
board — 104 of them — and the brig was got under
way for the mainland. Then, as night came on, the
wind failed. The convicts, fearing that a Chileno
warship would come, were unable to sleep and they
therefore passed the night on deck in groups that
surged to and fro, cursing incessantly, and always
in a state of mind where but a slight incentive was
needed to set them in deadly conflict with the crew
Captured by Convicts on Juan Fernandez 137
of the vessel and with each other. At daybreak it
was seen that the brig had drifted nearer to the
island instead of making headway toward the main.
At that, some one loudly declared that the brig's
captain had held her there In order to deliver her
to a coming man-o'-war, and the cry was followed
by a mutiny. The mob took possession of the
vessel.
For a time the outlook was most serious, but the
leader of the mob worked with the captain and con-
vinced the mob that no one could be properly
blamed for the position of the brig; and while the
argument was slowly seeping into the minds of the
desperate convicts, a fair breeze came and sent the
brig on her way.
Of the day-to-day incidents of the Annawan^s
passage to the coast of Chili there is no record, but
none is needed. It is enough to know that the wind
was so light that ten days were consumed In making
the 400 miles, and that during all that time more
than 100 desperadoes were raging around the deck
of the little brig, day and night.
During this time Mrs. Palmer was, of course, held
in her prison. The captain did not dare to speak
to her or to make a definite signal. But as oppor-
tunity was afforded he paced the deck above her
head and there issued orders to his crew in a voice
which she could hear, and he thus assured her that
he was as yet unharmed and in command.
Finally, the land was seen and a leading breeze
138 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
drove the Annawan to a practicable landing north of
Copiapa, where, screaming with delight, the outlaws
crowded into the boats and were landed.
When freed from the convicts the Annawan went
to Pisco, Peru, where some seal skins were bought.
Thence she went to Callao, where the U. S. Ship
Plymouth^ Master Commandant Francis H. Greg-
ory, commanding, happened to be at anchor. To
the astonishment of the Annawan's company the
naval sailors manned the yards and gave three cheers
as the brig sailed into the anchorage. Later it was
learned that Captain Gregory had heard about the
capture of the Annawan and he was at the point of
sailing to look for her when she came into port.
Later still the Annawan went to Valparaiso
where it was learned that the convicts, after landing,
had fled inland. Then with a lack of foresight
common to men of such a mental caliber, they had
preyed upon the inhabitants — even those who were
friendly — until an appeal to the Government for
help brought a regiment of soldiers who rounded
up the entire mob.
While the Annawan was yet at anchor at Val-
paraiso the convicts were brought there and re-
embarked for their prison island, and the vessel
which carried them passed close to the brig. The
convicts were seen to be a most disheartened lot,
but when, in passing, they recognized the Annawan
and her crew, they shouted repeatedly,
Captured by Convicts on Juan Fernandez 139
**Los huenos Americanos! Los huenos Ameri-
canos!**
They were desperadoes, the offscourings of the
Seven Seas, but during that passage of ten days from
Juan Fernandez to the mainland, they had yet
found the master of the Annawan and her crew
muy simpatico.
An incident occurring in one of the ports visited,
as described by Second Mate Hubbard, gives an
unusual view of Captain Palmer. During a previous
visit to the port Captain Palmer had made friends
with the Captain of the Port, an important official
on that coast. Nevertheless, when the Annawan
returned there, and Mate Dudley Robinson took a
boat ashore to get water, he and the crew were
captured by a band of armed men who had been
hiding in the brush near shore. Why this was done
none of the crew could learn. Hubbard continues :
"Soon after Capt. P. was Informed of the arrest
he went on shore and found out the trouble. He
became greatly enraged and called on me to bring
my gun ; and with himself with a gun and both well
loaded, and [with] two men in a small boat, we
landed on the beach, swearing vengeance unless our
men were immediately released."
Then the Captain of the Port came on the run
and the Annawans were released and provided with
water.
140 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
Business was so good on the coast that when the
Annawan was filled with products, Captain Palmer
freighted a ship home and continued trading until
July 9, 1833, when he sailed for home. The last
entry in the brig's log (a most interesting old blank
book made of soft paper sewed with a single stitch
into a cover of unhemmed canvas) contains the fol-
lowing:
"Wednesday, 25 Sept. Remarks on board.
"This day comes in with moderate breezes from
the westward. All dragging sail set. At 1 130 made
Montaug Light. At 10 A. M. anchored in Stoning-
ton Harbor."
CHAPTER XIII
THE YANKEE PACKETS
AFTER Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer re-
turned home from the voyage to the Cape
Horn region, described In the last chapter,
he entered upon a career which is of especial interest
in any history of the American merchant marine.
For ever since the end of the War of 1812, Ameri-
can shipping had been securing a leading place in
the trade between the United States and Europe,
and the captain was now to take a prominent part
in the work of furthering the American advance,
and In sustaining it in every forward step made
thereafter. And this is to say that he was, first of
all, to become a leader among the designers and
commanders of the packet ships of which all Ameri-
cans then made boast; and later, when the demand
for fast ships in the China tea trade arose, and
brought into existence what have since been called
the Yankee clippers, he was the designer, and the
captain as well, of the first of that famous fleet.
In fact, a time came when the British Admiralty
were so enthusiastically interested in a clipper of his
design that they minutely measured her, as she lay
in a drydock, hoping thus to learn the secret of a
141
142 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
record passage which she had made from Canton to
London.
For more than fifty years at this writing — in fact,
ever since the Civil War — the editors of our maga-
zines and of our newspapers have been writing over
and over again that the American clipper ships were
in all respects superior to (meaning more efficient
than) all other ships afloat in their day. So often
has this statement appeared in print that every back-
woodsman in the nation has read it, and it is uni-
versally accepted as true beyond question.
Unhappily, however, a study of the situation
shows that while some American ships were more
efficient than any affoat in their classes, the bald
statement, as printed, lacks discrimination; and
ignorance of the facts is especially deplorable be-
cause our legislators who are now (1921) trying
to sustain our over-built merchant fleet, could serve
the industry far better if they knew just when and
in what respects our splendid ships of the sail,
called packets and clippers, were superior to those
of European construction; and when and wherein
those same ships failed to maintain the standing
which they had honestly secured.
Because Captain Palmer had, as said, a notable
part in the work of giving our ships of the sail their
reputation, and because, too, he was concerned when
those ships lost caste, the whole story of the fleet
as well as his work with them, must be told in con-
siderable detail.
The Yankee Packets 143
It is Important to observe first of all that our
clippers composed a fleet entirely distinct from that
of the packets. The packets were passenger car-
riers as well as freighters plying between the prin-
cipal ports of the United States and Europe, and
they sailed on regular schedules. The clippers were
freighters only and they were built for the China
trade. The packets sailed when the hour came,
regardless of the amount of cargo on board. The
clippers were loaded to the hatch coamings at every
passage.
The name packet was first applied to a vessel by
the British. Because the Empire was spread around
the world It was necessary to provide means for
carrying mails at frequent and regular Intervals be-
tween London and the various colonies. For this
purpose the Admiralty built swift brigs, and one of
these was despatched at stated intervals to this and
that port in the colonies. Perhaps it was because
the letters were done up In packets that the vessels
came to be called by the same name.
As the mall lines did not receive a profitable in-
come from the freight and passengers carried. In
addition to the mails, no one thought it worth while
to establish a packet line at private expense, even
between such ports as New York and Liverpool,
until long after the American colonies had developed
Into an independent nation. But in the meantime a
packet business had developed on the Hudson River
which proved to be at once remarkably convenient
144 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
for shippers and profitable for the owners of the
vessels. Because of the character of the traffic on
the river the sloops which were used for passengers
as well as freight, had regular days of departure
from the various towns and for the return, as well.
They sailed from their 'landings at the advertised
time regardless of the amount of freight on board,
or of the number of passengers.
Because of the regularity of the sailings, farmers
drove forty miles and more to deliver produce to
sloops bound down to New York and passengers
came from towns in Massachusetts to Poughkeepsie
to sail thence to New York rather than travel by
stage over the highway through Connecticut.
The packet service which originated on the river
was naturally extended to the alongshore trades,
and in every such extension it was found that a
regular service was more profitable than one where-
in the vessel awaited a full cargo before sailing.
In 1816, while young Palmer was sailing before
the mast on Long Island Sound, Jeremiah Thomp-
son, Isaac Wright, Benjamin Marshall, and a few
other capitalists of New York, organized a com-
pany to establish a packet service between New York
and Liverpool. It is to be noted that this organiza-
tion was effected to provide an improved service.
Theretofore the ships in the Liverpool trade had
sailed only when they were full of cargo, and the
consequent delays were especially annoying to pas-
sengers, for the reason that they were kept waiting
The Yankee •Packets 145
in uncertainty for days and even weeks at a stretch.
When the new line was established passengers and
shippers alike were fully assured that a ship would
sail on the first day of each month, regardless of
the amount of freight in the hold or the number of
passengers in the cabin; and regardless of the
weather, as well.
The ships provided were not the largest afloat
(400 to 500 tons), but they were of the best con-
struction— coppered and copper-fastened. They
were fit to carry sail in all weathers and the cabin
accommodations were the most comfortable afloat.
The success of this line, which was called the
Black Ball, was so great that other lines were soon
established in competition, and lines from other
ports also came into existence. Of these American
packet lines McCulloch's "Commercial Dictionary,"
published in London in 1839, contained the follow-
ing in its description of the commerce of New York:
"The establishment of regular packet lines from
New York to foreign ports, and also to every prin-
cipal port in the United States, has produced a new
era in the commerce of the city, and redounded
equally to the benefit of the enterprising individuals
by whom they were projected, and the public. The
principal intercourse is carried on with Liverpool;
there being about twenty packet ships distributed
in four lines employed at present (1836) in main-
taining a regular communication with that port. A
146 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
dozen packet ships are also employed in the trade
between New York and London, and fifteen in the
trade between New York and Havre. These ships
vary in size from 450 tons, the burden of the
smallest, to 800 tons. Their tonnage has latterly
been increasing; and, at an average, it may now be
estimated at about 600 tons.
"These ships are all American property and built
chiefly in New York. They are probably the finest
and fastest sailing merchant vessels in the world;
being beautifully modelled, of the best workman-
ship, and fitted up with every convenience for pas-
sengers, and in the most expensive style. The
safety, regularity and expedition with which they
perform their voyages is quite astonishing. The
average length of a voyage from Liverpool and
Portsmouth to New York may be estimated at about
34 days, and from the latter to the former at about
20 days. The Independence^ of 730 tons, Captain
Nye, made the voyage from New York to Liverpool,
in the course of the present year, in 14 days; and
the Toronto, of 650 tons, Captain Griswold, made
the voyage from New York to Portsmouth in the
same-time. And it is material to observe that these
voyages are not reckoned from land to land but
from port to port,
"Cabin passage to New York from London and
Liverpool 35 guineas; from New York to London
and Liverpool 140 dollars; a cabin passage to New
York from Havre 140 dollars and from New York
The Yankee Packets 147
to Havre the same. This includes provisions, wines,
beds, &c., so that the passengers have no occasion
to provide anything except personal apparel.
"Each ship has a separate cabin for ladies; each
stateroom, in the respective cabins, will accommo-
date two passengers; but a whole stateroom may be
secured for one individual at the rate of i>^ pas-
sage, that is 52j^ guineas to New York.
"The rate of steerage passage varies, in the course
of the year, considerably; depending upon the num-
ber of ships and the number of passengers going at
the time. ... It fluctuates from three to six
guineas for each full-grown person; and children
under fourteen years are taken at half price. . . .
For these rates the ship provides nothing but fire
and water; the passengers provide their own pro-
visions, bedding, &c.
"Steam Packets. — It has been proposed to es-
tablish steam packets between New York and
Valentia harbour, on the west coast of Ireland; but
as yet little progress has been made in the under-
taking. It may be doubted, indeed, seeing how well
the intercourse is maintained by the sailing packets,
whether the introduction of steam packets would be
of material service."
The "Dictionary" also says that the prices
charged passengers by the packets were always at
least 40% higher than those of the hit-or-miss car-
riers, and in some cases they were 100% higher.
148 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
The freight rates of the packets were around
33 1/3% higher. And that Is to say that the ships
which gave the most satisfactory service secured the
cream of the traffic (more especially the package
goods), and all at a highly profitable rate. Service
was, and always Is, worth an extra price.
The exigencies of the packet trade naturally cre-
ated a demand for captains who were able to handle
ships under all circumstances, and more especially
to keep them going at the highest possible speed. A
packet captain needed, first of all, a knowledge of
what his ship could endure under a press of canvas
— he needed to know when he might spread more
canvas to the gale and when he must reef down
to save the spars. Having this knowledge It was
imperative that he should also have the courage to
carry sail when an ordinary captain would reef down
— to carry as much sail in the midwatch as in the
morning watch. It was a courageous seaman who
could order the crew to shake out the reefs in the
topsails at the call of the watch at midnight, even
though the power of the gale had moderated some-
what.
Of little less Importance was the personal bear-
ing which made the crew feel that the captain was
an absolute monarch whose orders iuust be obeyed
under all circumstances. In pleasant weather this
was a matter of less Importance, but when the ship
was driven until the timbers groaned and the rig-
ging shrieked under the strain, it was absolutely
The Yankee Packets 149
necessary that the crew run with all their might at
the order to reef down. It was only by their utmost
exertions that the crew could then save the canvas
or even the ship itself from destruction, and a man
who could compel them to work in that way was
needed. The owners of the packet lines searched
the ports of the nation to find the men they needed.
Because many books, and more particularly novels,
have declared that the seamen were brutally treated
on the American packets, it seems worth while to
give a paragraph to the facts here. While the
packets were increasing in number and efficiency
it appears that seamen were scarce. To keep their
ships well manned the packet captains paid higher
wages than any others in the world. When the
foremast hand in the navy received but $12 a month
the sailors on the packets were paid $17 to $18.
There is a record of a packet race in which one ship
(the Sheridan) carried a crew of forty picked men
who received $25 a month. The food supplied the
sailors was of good quality and ample in quantity.
Because of these conditions and because the pas-
sage was usually short a remarkable class of men
came to the packet forecastles. They were all for-
eigners save a few American youngsters shipped
solely with a view to promotion — never to join the
forecastle "labor class." There never was a fore-
castle class among American seamen. The for-
eigners were a husky lot on the topsail yard, but as
a rule men who preferred this service because it
150 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
transferred them swiftly from the brothels of one
port to those of another. They were well able to
"hand, reef and steer," but they knew nothing of
the nice work of the "marlinspike sailor," because
they never had opportunity to learn It. Such work
was done on the long voyages only.
When these foreigners came for the first time to
the packets they had sea habits which usually made
trouble. The best of them came from the service of
the British East India Company ships all of which
sent down royal yards every night, even in the finest
weather, and whereon the topgallant sails were
furled and a reef was turned into the topsails when-
ever there was the least sign of worse weather.
Naturally such sailors moved In a leisurely fashion
— at first. A man who had been called to shorten
sail might stop long enough to take a chew of to-
bacco before responding. He was also likely to
fail In showing the respect due to a superior officer,
for discipline was slack on most European ships, but
the unpardonable sin was failure to "show willing"
when ordered to work. As to the worst class of
foreign sailors they were simply the offscourings of
the ports — vicious brutes who were always looking
for trouble. Taken as a whole. It must be said that
the most difficult crews to control that were found
afloat in the packet days were those in the packet
forecastles.
The master of a packet needed knowledge, skill,
and courage as a seaman, but more than all else
The Yankee Packets i^t
needed the ability to maintain discipline at all times
while yet influenced by a strong sense of justice.
Finally he needed the tact by which selfish, sick and
unreasonable passengers are handled when at sea.
As said, the owners of the packets of New York
were constantly searching the ports of the nation for
captains who were in all respects fit for the impor-
tant post on the quarterdeck of a Liverpool liner.
They were searching when Captain Palmer re-
turned from the voyage around the Horn in the
Annawan, and they then came to hear the story of
his adventure with the mutinous convicts. The cap-
tain was already well known among owners of
coasters, at least. They knew that he had non-
chalantly sailed a fifty-foot sloop through the gales
and among the clashing ice-fields on the rim of the
Antarctic Continent, and that he had fitted out and
sailed a brig on an exploring expedition through the
unknown seas southwest of Cape Horn. They had
discussed his ability as a diplomat when dealing first
with the sensitive lieutenants of Bolivar and then
with the titled and snobbish officers in command in
Cuba — officers who held all Americans in contempt.
To the record thus made was added now the story
of the Annawan at Juan Fernandez and the owners
of the packets were convinced that the young cap-
tain from Stonington was of the breed needed for
packet ship command.
The packet manager to act first on the opinion
that Captain Palmer was of the right build, was
152 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
E. K. Collins, managing owner of a line of ships
trading between New York and New Orleans. He
placed the captain in command of the ship Himts-
ville. It is worth noting that Captain Alexander S.
Palmer, the young brother who had sailed on the
exploring expedition in the schooner Penguin, was
also taken into this service and given the command
of the Louisville.
As the reader knows, the New Orleans service
was peculiar in one respect. The passengers who
were carried were usually from the slave-states —
either slave owners or in full sympathy with slave
owning. Those people were, as a rule, seriously
prejudiced against every one of the Yankee breed.
To hold the good will of these patrons of the line
without a sacrifice of principle required diplomacy;
but it is a matter of record that Palmer w^as called
"Captain Nat" in New Orleans as he was in Nev/
York.
While Captain Palmer was in command of the
Hiintsville, Collins was considering the feasibility of
establishing a new packet line between New York
and Liverpool. The five lines already in that trade
had given good satisfaction, as McCulloch's "Dic-
tionary," quoted above, said, but Collins was of the
opinion that the service rendered might be improved.
The care and comforts given the passengers, as he
supposed, were not quite up to date, and he was
contemplating the initiation of a superior service.
To learn how Liverpool people might regard the
The Yankee Packets 153
establishing of a new line, Collins sent Captain
Palmer there in 1835. While the report the cap-
tain made on his return has been lost, it appears
that Collins, and his associates in the New Orleans
line, were convinced that the contemplated line
would prove to be a commercial success. When they
had come to this decision they determined that new
ships, especially designed for the trade, should be
built, and Captain Palmer was employed to make
the model and superintend the building.
For, during all the years since he had listened
to the discussions among the ship carpenters in his
father's yard at Stonington, Captain Palmer had
worked over and dreamed about models of ships.
When telling what he was doing while pacing the
deck of the fog-bound Hero, on his return from the
shores of the Antarctic Continent, he said he was
''building castles in the air." We may believe, from
what we know of his habit of thought, that he laid
out a shipyard beside each of those castles and
that each yard was provided with an ample loft
wherein the dreamer was to lay down the lines of
many ships of improved models. At any rate it
was the captain's manifest and oft-expressed interest
in the improvement of shipping that led Collins to
employ him as the designer of the Dramatic Line of
packets, as the new fleet was named.
CHAPTER XIV
COMMODORE OF THE DRAMATIC LINE
A RECORD of the work done in Brown & Bell's
shipyard, at the foot of Stanton Street,
■ New York City, between the years 1821
and 1847 (printed in Hunt's Merchants' Magazine,
December, 1848), shows that four ships were built
there for Collins's Dramatic Line, as follows:
In 1836 the Garrick and the Sheridan were
launched. Both were from the same model and each
measured 927 tons. In 1837 the Siddons was built
from the same model as the other two, and finally,
in 1839, the Roscius was built from a new and im-
proved model, her measurement being 1,009 tons.
A description of the Roscius, which was printed in
the New York Express at the time she was launched,
runs as follows :
"We have from time to time given descriptions
of the various ships which have been put afloat. . . .
We have now another to add — the ship Roscius,
built by E. K. Collins, belonging to the Dramatic
Line, and to be commanded by Captain John Col-
lins. She is the largest that has yet been built, and
for strength and beauty is a noble specimen of
154
Commodore of the Dramatic Line 155
American shipbuilding. The following are her di-
mensions :
"Burden, 1,100 tons; length of main deck, 170
feet; length of spar deck, 180 feet; breadth of beam,
36^ feet; depth of hold, 22 feet; height of cabin,
6^2 feet; height from keelson to main truck, 187
feet; length of main yard, 75 feet."
To describe in detail the velvet used upon the
sofas, the Wilton carpets on the cabin floor, the
"scarlet marino" drapery, the "white curtains" and
other features of the cabin, as the Express did,
would require too much space. It is enough to say
that she was in this matter more luxuriously pro-
vided than any ship on salt water. Perhaps it should
also be noted that she cost $100,000, or $100 a ton,
and was therefore the most expensive ship in the
transatlantic trade. It was not because we could
build wooden ships at a less cost than the Europeans
that our packets dominated the North Atlantic. It
was because we could and did build the most efficient
ships for the trade.
The peculiarities of the models of our ships shall
be considered in another chapter wherein the work
of Captain Palmer in developing the famous fleet
of American clipper ships is described. Here it
may suffice to say that while only one of the four
ships of this line ever broke the record for swift
passages across the Atlantic in either direction, they
stood at the head of the procession of the American
156 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
packets for all around efficiency before the first
clipper ship was designed or even thought of. That
is to say, the record of the ships as a fleet — or say
squadron — for continuous good and profitable work,
excelled the records of the other lines of packets.
The Dramatic Line obtained and held its lead among
the packets because its ships, year in and year out,
were the most dependable afloat.
With the exception of the Roscitis, Captain
Palmer took command of each of these ships for
one voyage when it w^as put in commission. He was
the commodore of the finest fleet of ships in the
North Atlantic, just twenty-two years after he had
shipped as a boy of fourteen on a blockade-runner,
on Long Island Sound, during the War of 18 12. In
those days sailormen used to hold long arguments
over the question as to whether the most efficient
ship masters were those who began sea life before
the mast or as clerks in the cabin. In the vernacular
the question was : Is it better to crawl in through the
hawse pipes and work your way aft, or to blow in
through the cabin windows? The question is yet
discussed in a mild, academic way, with no decision
in view, for the reason that good captains have come
to the quarterdeck by both routes ; but when the ques-
tion was argued in the old days those who favored
the forecastle route were able to point with pride to
Captain Nat Palmer, one who arrived by working
his way aft.
Of Captain Palmer's life as a captain in the Liver-
Commodore of the Dramatic Line 157
pool trade few stories are remembered [there Is one
to be related in the next chapter] because he never
had any trouble with his crews or any adventures.
His ship went to sea, made her passage, discharged
her cargo, took on another and returned home.
Passengers and cargoes were delivered in excellent
order. He was highly esteemed because his voyages
were uneventful. He earned the highest praise be-
stowed by ship owners and other alongshore people
when it was said of him that "he never cost the
underwriters a cent."
As Captain Palmer was, during these years, grow-
ing wealthy — gaining through faithful work a posi-
tion among the "capitalistic class" — a paragraph
about the pay of the packet captains may be worth
giving. Like that of the others in the trade the cap-
tain's pay — his regular salary — was $30 a month.
To this absurd sum, however, was added 5% of the
money received for freight, 25% of the money paid
for cabin passages, and all the money received for
carrying the mails. The captain was also allowed
to carry his wife, board free.
To get an idea about the amount of freight money
collected for passage, here is a note about the
Dramatic Line ship Garrick. She was driven ashore
on the Jersey Beach in January, 1841, and Niles's
Register, when reporting the fact, announced that
she was bringing "cargo estimated to be worth
400,000 dollars — though she was not more than one-
third loaded." For the cargo on a single passage
158 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
the packets sometimes received from $30,000 to
$50,000 as freight money, and on this the captain
collected 5%. The number of passengers varied
from 20 to 100. Because of his very great popu-
larity among travelers that frequented the packets,
Captain Nat had a greater number in his cabin than
the average ship — say 400 in the course of a year,
at $140 each, of which he received 25%. Of the
number of letters carried no estimate is to be found,
but it is to be remembered that the postage rate in
those days was 24 cents per >^ oz.
As said. Captain Palmer grew rich rapidly after
he entered the packet service. And in connection
with this matter it is to be noted that he, like all the
captains in the trade, owned a share of a sixteenth
or an eighth in every ship he commanded, and every
ship was expected to earn her cost in every year she
was afloat.
While the records of the voyages which the cap-
tain made in the Liverpool service are devoid of
such incidents as strandings and collisions and fires
in the hold and dismastings during the gales, there
is one feature of his work as a master that may yet
be described, and that was his method of taking the
ship from her pier to sea, and from the sea to
her pier, when wind and tide favored. People who
go to the New York piers in modern days to see
their friends depart for Europe observe that the
captain of the steamer, though perched on a high
bridge, is an inconsequential figure — one, in fact,
Commodore of the Dramatic Line 159
who Is not commonly noticed by the people who are
standing on the pier. If the attention of spectators
should be especially called to him they may see him
wave his hand to somebody on or perhaps off the
bow of the ship — wave It as an order to cast off
the lines holding the steamer to the pier. Another
wave or two releases her at other points. Then as
the water is churned up beneath her stern by the
revolving propeller she backs slowly into the river,
where a lot of fussy tugs gather around her and push
on one bow and on the opposite quarter until she
is at last headed down toward the sea. Then she
manages to get away on her course.
When the wind and the tide served as the Garrick
lay stern to at her East River pier, Captain Palmer,
big, burly and commanding, came to the starboard
side of the quarterdeck and with trumpet in hand
gave orders, distinctly heard but never boisterous,
under which the great topsails were spread by sheets
and halyards flat aback to the breeze, the jibs were
hoisted and the spanker loosened. The straining
lines holding the ship to the pier were now cast off,
and under the impulse of the breeze alone she backed
into the river where her stern was turned up to the
north by the handling of the jibs and the bracing of
the yards on which sails had been set — she was
backed until she was well clear of the pier — and the
bow was pointed toward the sea. Then the spanker
was hauled aft, all the lighter sails and the courses
were swiftly spread, the staysails were run up be-
i6o Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
tween the masts and with a throng of enthusiastic
spectators shouting themselves hoarse in vain efforts
to express their appreciation of the master's skill, the
ship fled rippling down the bay.
More difficult still was bringing the ship to her
pier at the end of the voyage. Tugs were to be had
— great, squat, side-wheelers, as homely as sin — but
when the wind and tide favored Captain Palmer
would have none of them. Coming up East River
on the port tack with all plain sail set he stood well
over to the Brooklyn side until the ship's pier had
been passed to the exact distance needed. Then he
turned the ship to the starboard tack, reached across
to the pier, and while the crew lowered away on
halyards and hauled up on all clewlines and bunt-
lines, and yanked at the downhauls hand over hand,
the clean hull slipped Into her berth without so much
as scraping her freshly painted side on a string-
piece, until her fasts were thrown over the timber-
heads.
It is pleasing to recall, now, that when an Ameri-
can ship master brought his ship to her pier under
sail the British captains who happened to be in port
always joined most cordially In the applause which
greeted the exploit. Moreover, the record-breaking
feats of all the American packets, and the new
packets as they appeared, were described in the
British papers In terms of highest praise. There
was nothing small about the most energetic rivals of
the Yankee sailor of the sail.
Commodore of the Dramatic Line i6i
It Is therefore proper to Inquire how It came to
pass that Yankee captains were so far superior to
those of all other nations. The British themselves
answered this question for the benefit of their own
seamen. A committee of Parliament, which had
been appointed ostensibly to "Inquire Into the cause
of shipwrecks In the British merchant service," made
a report which was printed In the London Courier
on August 1 8 and 20, 1836, and reprinted, In part.
In the Army and Navy Chronicle (Washington) on
October 6. The following paragraph appeared In
that report :
"American Shipping. — That the committee can-
not conclude Its labors without calling attention to
the fact that ships of the United States of America,
frequenting the ports of England, are stated by sev-
eral witnesses to be superior to those of a similar
class amongst the ships of Great Britain, the com-
manders and officers being generally considered to
be more competent as seamen and navigators, and
more uniformly persons of education, than the com-
manders and officers of British ships of a similar
size and class trading from England to America;
while the seamen of the United States are considered
to be more carefully selected and to be more efficient;
that American ships sailing from Liverpool to New
York have a preference over English vessels sailing
to the same port, both as to freight and rate of In-
surance ; and, higher wages being given, their whole
equipment is maintained In a higher state of perfec-
1 62 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
tion, so that fewer losses occur. . . . The tempta-
tions offered by superior wages of American vessels
cause a large number of British seamen every year
to leave the service of their own country, and to
embark in that of the United States, and these, com-
prising chiefly the most skilful and competent of our
mariners, produce the double effect of improving
the efficiency of American crews and in the same
ratio diminishing the efficiency of the British mer-
chant service."
Captain Palmer was conspicuous among those
American ship masters who were, as the committee
of Parliament declared, "more uniformly persons of
education" than British ship masters, but it is to be
remembered that after he was fourteen years old his
schooling was secured on board American vessels.
He had by conscious endeavor educated himself
throughout his career as foremasthand, second mate,
mate and master.
For the American people who are now (1921)
trying to maintain an overbuilt merchant marine, the
quotation above from the report of the Committee
of Parliament contains some of the most important
statements of fact ever printed. Summed up in a
single sentence the committee's report said that
American ships had a "preference over English
vessels" solely because vessel and crew taken to-
gether as a unit were more "efficient." The whole
story of American leadership at sea Is told by that
Commodore of the Dramatic Line 163
single word efficient. The cost of our packets at
an average $90 a ton was higher than the cost of
British ships of a similar size, and the crews received
higher wages, but this combination of cost produced
a more efficient carrier and it was therefore more
profitable.
In the earlier years of the century while seals were
to be had, our ships dominated the fishery. After
the seals failed, our ships rapidly secured the lead
in the whale fishery, a lead that was greater than
any other whaleships had had even when the War
of 18 12 was raging. Between 18 16 and the advent
of the steamship, our Liverpool packets were with-
out foreign competition. But until the year 1844
the long-haul trade between Canton and civilized
ports was chiefly in the hands of British shipping.
There were American ships in the trade that made
money, but they did not encroach, or say dominate,
as they did in all other trades of importance. How
the Yankees gained supremacy in the China trade
after 1844 is one of the most interesting chapters
in the history of the sea and the story shall be told
because of Captain Palmer's part in the work.
CHAPTER XV
RECORD PASSAGE FROM LIVERPOOL TO NEW YORK
BEFORE describing the work and Influence of
Captain Palmer upon the American clipper
fleet It Is necessary to tell why he left the
packet service. As previously noted, the packet
service demanded that every ship be driven to the
last gasp on every passage In either direction.
There was no weather bureau to give advance notice
that a storm was Impending, and If such a notice had
been printed the packet captain would have rejoiced
to take advantage of the power of the gale.
Even when the first northeast breath of a West
India hurricane came, moisture laden, across New
York Bay at the hour of his departure. Captain
Palmer hauled his ship Into the stream, scudded
down the bay to Sandy Hook, discharged his pilot,
and then, with all plain sail set at least up to top-
gallant sails, he stood out to sea. The long waves
— "the dogs coming before their master" — with the
growing weight of the wind compelled him, in time,
to decrease the spread, but he did It grudgingly, one
sail at a time, and only when the ship was reeling
her lee scuppers into the solid water, and the lee
yard arms were down to the waves, was a reef turned
into the topsails.
164
Record Passage from Liverpool to New York 165
While the ship plunged and plowed her way
to eastward the captain remained on deck, no mat-
ter how competent the junior officers, for he alone
was responsible for the speed of the passage and the
safety of the ship. All night he paced the quarter-
deck. When day came struggling through the murk
the steward brought a big armchair and secured it
under the weather rail. In that the captain sat down
for a rest, now and then, but never for a moment
did he fail to give heed to the wet sails and the strain-
ing gear aloft. His meals were brought to him as
he sat in the chair, with now and then a cup of coffee
between times, but he was on his feet, pacing to and
fro or walking forward for a look at the head sails
during many more hours of the day than he was
seated in the chair. The next night found him as
vigilant as ever. For him there was no watch below.
Day on day and night on night he turned his eyes
from the reeling spars to the raging seas and back
again to the spars. He was wet by the clouds of
spray that came over the weather rail and by the
solid blue water into which the lee rail sagged at
every roll; he was chilled by the wind as well as the
water; but he remained on deck, ready on the Instant
for every emergency, while the storm lasted. No
firmer hand than his ever drew the reins over Nep-
tune's white-manned horses.
For a summer storm, no matter how long it en-
dured, such an experience rarely if ever provoked
a comment on his arrival in port, unless, indeed, he
1 66 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
happened to be racing with a steamship, when he
would ask by how many hours he had beaten her.
And even when he had faced the snow-laden and
sleet-laden blasts of winter in the "Roaring Forties"
for a fortnight at a stretch, with no more sleep than
could be had in an occasional nap in his armchair,
he spoke of the experience, if at all, only as a matter
for quiet satisfaction rather than complaint.
Nevertheless a time came, when his body could no
longer endure the strain even though it were sus-
tained by an iron will, and his health failed so far
that he had to leave the service. Of course he did
not sever his connection abruptly. He went to New
Orleans in 1839 for a rest. He had a brother who
had been established in business there for years, and
the manner of life in the Crescent City delighted
him and brought renewed strength. So he came
back to command the Siddons, and in a passage be-
ginning at Liverpool in October, 1840, he drove his
packet across the Atlantic and to her pier in New
York in fifteen days. This was the shortest west-
ward passage between Liverpool and New York of
which there is any record. The next in length of
time was made by the Yorkshire, Captain Bailey, in
1846. She crossed in sixteen days. The passage of
the Siddons has been overlooked by modern writers
because the captain avoided instead of seeking news-
paper notoriety. In a letter to his family in Ston-
ington, dated October 25, he gives the length of the
passage, but adds no details. The important news,
in his view, which he had to convey was the effect of
Record Passage from Liverpool to New York 167
the strain he had suffered upon his health. He had
finally broken down and was to sail immediately for
Havana in the hope that the change of climate would
prove beneficial — as it did. But the unequaled west-
ward passage of the Siddons was his last as a master
in the packet service.
Among the few remaining notes on the life of the
captain in the interval after he left the packets and
before he began his career with the clippers is one
that says he made a voyage to Rio Janeiro for a
cargo of coffee, in the ship Hibernia. He was back
in New York on May 20, 1841. On July 4 he went
fishing off Block Island and caught eighty mackerel.
On January 12, 1842, he sailed from Norfolk, Va.,
in the U. S. Sloop of War Marion, Captain Goulds-
borough, bound for Rio Janeiro, where he was to
take command of a vessel loaded with coffee. His
next command was the ship Paul Jones, belonging
to Robt. B. Forbes, of Boston, and Russell & Co.,
of Hong Kong. She was a new ship, bound to Can-
ton for a load of China goods. She sailed from
Boston on January 15, 1843, and made the passage
to Hong Kong in 1 1 1 days, a short time for that
day. The voyage as a whole was uneventful in all
respects but one. While on the way home he car-
ried a passenger with whom he frequently discussed
the conditions then prevailing in the China trade,
with the result that he determined, after arriving in
New York, to enter the China service as part owner
and master of a ship, and this ship became the first
of the great fleet of American clippers.
CHAPTER XVI
THE FIRST YANKEE CLIPPER
THE Story of the American clippers is mani-
festly of growing rather than of waning
interest to American readers, for it has ap-
peared in our magazines bristling with the records
of day-runs and of passages from port to port at
intervals ever since the last of the mighty fleet was
deprived of her wings and set at work as an along-
shore tow-barge. The newspaper editor who dis-
cusses any feature of our modern oversea commerce
usually adorns and emphasizes his argument by a
reference to the days "when our ships dominated
the Seven Seas" ; and in doing so he assumes that
every reader already knows the facts well enough
to appreciate the force of what he says. Perhaps it
is safe to say that certain features of the story of
the clippers are as well known to ordinary readers
as any chapter in American history.
Nevertheless the records at Stonington, though
few in number, add some facts of interest to those
already printed in connection with the clipper era.
In order to make the story clear it seems advisable
to explain exactly what is meant herein when the
term clipper ship is used and to define the period
i68
The First Yankee Clipper 169
called the clipper ship era. The word clipper was
first applied to the swift privateers built at Balti-
more during the War of 18 12. It was derived, of
course, from the verb clip which means to cut or
shorten. The Baltimore clippers certainly did
shorten the time theretofore required to sail a sea
mile.
As used here the word clipper is applied to a
class of carriers which were built at first especially
for the China trade. After the discovery of gold
in California the fleet was rapidly enlarged for use
in the trade to San Francisco. All of these ships
were designed for high speed instead of great cargo
capacity. They were not yachts, built solely to break
speed records; they were cargo carriers built for
profits. Speed was considered more desirable than
cargo capacity solely because of the well-founded be-
lief that speed would bring more profits than a slow
ship of great capacity; and never was the theory
that profit and progress go hand in hand illustrated
more clearly than in the evolution of these ships.
Thus, the first ship built for speed instead of
capacity was the Ann McKim, of 493 tons, owned by
Isaac McKim, of Baltimore, and launched in 1832.
She had live oak frames, mahogany deck finishings,
with no end of brass work, and was copper fastened.
The cost was excessive and because she had a sharp
model her cargo capacity was relatively small. She
therefore made less profits than the other ships in
the trade and was regarded by other ship merchants
1 70 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
as an example to be avoided rather than imitated.
She therefore had no Influence In bringing on what
Is called the clipper era.
The plans for building the China clippers (two
in number) which initiated the clipper era were
drawn in 1843. One of the ships was launched in
May, 1844; the other In January, 1845. -Both were
larger than any ship previously in the China trade,
and both were of refined model. In spite of sharp
models, however, both proved to be immensely
profitable. Their owners therefore at once built
others to similar models. These proved to be still
more profitable and the profits being In considerable
measure due to speed, other merchants were led to
consider the advisability of building similar ships.
The urgent demand for tonnage which followed the
discovery of gold In California and the still more
urgent demand that the ships in this trade should
be swift — the fact that speed added greatly to the
profits of tonnage In this trade — was the final Im-
pulse which brought the clipper ship evolution to its
zenith of splendor in size and speed. Indeed,
builders and merchants lost all sense of proportion
and built beyond the needs of the period so that
profits fell off; whereupon there was a return to
what may be called the capacity model. But mar-
velous speed records were made, and European
merchants and builders were compelled to acknowl-
edge the supremacy of American ships In the long-
The First Yankee Clipper 171
haul trades as they had previously acknowledged
that supremacy on the North Atlantic.
In the meantime, certain schooners and brigs
which had been engaged in the coasting trade of
China had been called clippers because they had been
modeled for speed rather than capacity. Speed was
absolutely necessary to profits in that trade, for the
vessels had -to beat against powerful currents and
dodge pirates. These vessels are of interest here
not because they were a part of the great fleet of
American clippers, properly so called, but because
the profits which they made led Captain Palmer to
design and build the first of the China clippers that
was put in commission.
Let it be said once more than the clippers com-
posed a distinct fleet. The packets were passenger
carriers, sailing on schedules. The clippers were
cargo carriers only (a few passengers were carried
on some of them) and they sailed when loaded.
The packets in their record-breaking passages prob-
ably attained speeds up to fifteen knots an hour,
though the records do not give the exact facts. Sev-
eral of the clippers exceeded eighteen knots an hour
and the log book of the Lightning, quoted by Capt.
Clark in his "Clipper Ship Era," says she dragged
out twenty-one knots in one heave of the log.
If these statements need be argued no further
now, we will consider how it happened that a de-
mand arose for improved ships in the China trade,
172 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
where the first clippers appeared. The American
trade with China was opened when the ship Empress
of China, Captain John Green, sailed from New
York (February 22, 1784) for Canton with a cargo,
the principal item of which was ginseng roots —
14,666 pounds, worth in Canton a dollar a pound on
the average. The passage out was covered in 174
days. An old account of her arrival says "it is
pleasing to notice the courtesy with which the Amer-
icans were welcomed" at Whampoa, Canton's sea-
port. There were thirty-four ships (seventeen
British) at anchor there and every one of them
fired a salute when the Yankee, with her flag flying,
came to join them.
After exchanging her ginseng for tea and other
goods the Empress sailed home in 135 days. The
account quoted says "the profits of the voyage were
$30,000, upwards of 25% on the capital employed."
The merchants of that day thought 25% a small re-
turn on a voyage requiring a year's time, but they
persisted in the trade because they observed that
with added experience and a larger capital they could
make more. By 1792 they considered the trade
well established because the American import of
tea, during that year, amounted to 2,614,008
pounds, a part of which was received in exchange
for seal skins taken in the Cape Horn region.
Thereafter, by irregular advances, the amount of
tea imported increased to 20,000,000 pounds, worth
$5,427,010, in 1841. In that year 35 American
The First Yankee Clipper 173
ships of the average size of 390 tons were employed
in our trade to China.
The distance from New York to Canton, as the
ships sailed, was around 14,000 miles and the time
required for a voyage (out and back) was about
one year. It was obvious that if the length of time
consumed could be shortened the expense would be
decreased. The fact that tea deteriorated during
a long passage was another inducement to shorten
the time required. The new crop tea, called Young
Hyson, consisting of the partially developed leaves,
was especially subject to injury. A simple calcula-
tion showed every tea merchant that if a cargo of
this new crop could be landed in New York say a
month ahead of the coming of the fleet, the owners
would make a profit of from 100% to 150% on
all the capital used in the venture. And yet down
to the year 1843 but one tea merchant of the United
States had built a ship that was especially designed
to make such swift passages as that.
In view of the competition between American
tea merchants, and of what had been done in the
way of increasing speed among the Liverpool
packets, the continued use of relatively slow little
400-ton droghers in the tea trade seems at first
thought discreditable to the merchants. But an ex-
planation of this conservatism is found in the extent
of the trade. Large ships were not needed. The
20,000,000 pounds imported in 1841, reduced to
deadweight tons, was but little more than the weight
174 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
carried by ten such ships as the packet Roscius; and
yet this total of 10,000 tons was, of course, dis-
tributed among all the 35 ships in the trade. To
build a ship large enough to give a material increase
of speed in the long passage was not attempted be-
cause even the larger ships in use came home with
less cargo than they might have carried.
Beginning in 1839, however, events occurred in
China which gave an entirely new aspect to the
trade. In that year the Chinese Government began
trying to exclude opium from the realm and thus
brought on what was called the Opium War with
England. During 1842 the Chinese were beaten
and they made peace (August 29) by ceding Hong
Kong in perpetuity to the British and by paying an
indemnity of $21,000,000. They also opened to
foreign trade four ports in addition to Canton.
In the American view the most important result
of the war was the opening of the additional ports
to foreign trade. It was like "the discovery of a
new continent, ready peopled with a rich, industri-
ous" race; it was "one of the greatest commercial
revolutions that ever took place." So said Hunt's
Merchants^ Magazine. "Moreover," said Hunt,
"the march of events will ultimately give the United
States the mastery" in the trade.
It was on January 4, 1843, that Captain Palmer
sailed for Canton in command of the Paul Jones.
Some of the events of the Opium War had been
The First Yankee Clipper 175
described, of course, in the American newspapers,
and the American people — more especially those en-
gaged in the China trade — were greatly interested
in the results expected to follow. It was therefore
natural that Captain Palmer should make a careful
study of the commercial conditions prevailing in
Asia while he was at Canton.
He perceived first of all that American trade
with China would be increased by the opening of
the new ports quite as rapidly as that of the British,
if not more so; for while the Chinese did not refuse
to trade with the British they favored the Ameri-
cans whenever possible.
The opium trade received the captain's especial
attention, partly because it had led to the war, but
chiefly, perhaps, because a swift little American
brig named the Antelope, belonging to the owners
of the Paul Jones, was engaged In it. The opium
was a product of India and the principal port of
shipment was Bombay. The Antelope was plying
between Bombay and Canton, making large profits.
Captain Palmer perceived that the opening of four
more China ports would give opportunity for at
least one more swift Yankee ship in the opium trade.
For the trade would inevitably increase and it was
the speed of the Antelope that made the merchants
favor her. Having designed four splendid packets
in the Dramatic Line, Captain Palmer was confident
that he could build a ship for the trade between
176 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
Bombay and, say, Shanghai, the principal of the new
ports, that could hold a lead over all others on the
coast of Asia.
Now, It happened that when Captain Palmer had
loaded the Paul Jones for New York, a man named
William H. Low, with his wife, engaged passage.
Mr. Low was a brother of Ablel Abbott Low, of the
New York tea firm of A. A. Low & Brother (there
being only two of the brothers then In the business).
He was one of the firm of Russell & Co., Hong
Kong, and on the way home he and Captain Palmer
discussed the foreign trade of China from every
point of view. The kind of a ship needed — the size,
model, rig and so on — was a matter of special Inter-
est to them. As a result of these discussions the two
eventually agreed that larger ships than those al-
ready engaged should prove more profitable, and
they then concluded that, as an experiment In the
growing trade, a vessel designed for the opium
trade between Bombay and some port In China
would have more chances for profit than any other.
In a letter which Captain Palmer wrote to A. A.
Low on August 8, 1875, he referred to this matter
as follows:
*'At the period of my first visit to China the opium
trade was in full tide of prosperity. The Antelope
and other clippers were running between Bombay
and other Indian ports, making large freights and
doing a fine business; and It did not appear that any
material change would take place for years to come.
The First Yankee Clipper 177
Your brother and myself came to the conclusion
there would be a good opening for a fast clipper
in the opium business between China and Bombay,
and we decided to carry out the enterprise on our
arrival home. I was to take one-quarter interest
and he was to take care of the other three-quarters.
He stated that he had no doubt but you would be
interested in the enterprise on arrival home in
October, 1843.
"I had not the pleasure of knowing you at this
time. I was taken by your brother William to your
place of business in Fletcher Street, and formally
introduced. When the project was made known you
readily approved of it, and authorized me to con-
tract for a suitable vessel.
"I went immediately to Messrs. Brown & Bell,
the most eminent shipbuilders in the city and con-
tracted with them to build a brig 120 feet long, 13
feet deep and 28 feet beam, making a vessel of 450
tons, costing for hull and spars $16,500. Before
the model was finished and the vessel begun it
occurred to me that a vessel of the shape and dimen-
sions as above would be unsuitable for any other
purpose than the opium trade. Consequently I sug-
gested to enlarge the dimensions to a vessel 132 feet
long, 17 feet depth of hold and 32 feet beam, which
was approved of, and [I] was authorized to ascer-
tain what the additional cost would be. I immedi-
ately called on Mr. Brown and asked what the
additional cost would be. He said :
178 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
" 'That is just such a vessel as I want to build,
and I will do it for $3,000 additional.' "
The increase of cost was approved by Mr. Low
and the ship was then "built and fitted out under
my supervision, and all contracts were made by me
from keel to truck," to quote still more from the
letter.
Captain Charles P. Low (a brother of A. A.
Low), who later commanded three different clippers
designed by Captain Palmer, writes in his auto-
biography, "Some Recollections," as follows re-
garding this ship :
"Soon after I left home for London my brother
William came home from China with Captain Nat
Palmer, in the ship Paul Jones. During the voyage
Captain Palmer had made a model of a clipper ship
and my brother took him to my brother Abbot and
persuaded him to have a ship built after the model.
It was to be built like a man-of-war, with solid bul-
warks and pierced for sixteen guns — eight on a side.
She was to be very fast. This vessel, when I re-
turned from London, was being built at Brown &
Bell's yards."
The exact day in October, 1843, when Captain
Palmer called on the Lows in connection with this
ship is not recorded, but the contract for the ship
was signed about November i. The captain says
distinctly that she was the "first clipper ship built
The First Yankee Clipper 179
for commercial purposes'* and that she sailed for
China, "admired by all," in June, 1844.
That the Houqua, as this ship was called, was one
of the clipper fleet, as claimed by Captain Palmer in
the above letter, is distinctly asserted by several
periodicals published while she was in commission.
For example, in a description of the clipper ship
Staghoundf which was published in the Monthly
Nautical Magazine, dated August, 1855, by John
Willis Griffiths, the editor, are the following state-
ments :
"The construction of this ship may be said to
mark the introduction of the late clipper era to
Boston. The building of fast vessels for foreign
trade had for several years been adopted in New
York, having been first undertaken by William H.
Aspinwall for whom Smith & Dimon constructed
the clipper ship Rainbow, in 1843, which was fol-
lowed by the Houqua and Samuel Russell, by
Brown & Bell ; and the famous Sea Witch, also built
by Smith & Dimon. . . . Such was the condition of
enterprise in New York for several years before
Boston awoke to distinguish herself in clipper build-
ing, and give to the world many of the fastest fleets
and largest ships in commercial service."
When Griffiths spoke of "building of fast vessels
for foreign trade" he meant to say for the long-
haul trade, beginning with that to China, in order
to distinguish these ships from those employed in
i8o Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
the packet trade of the North Atlantic. He then
continued :
"The bold mind of Donald McKay grew restless
under the idea that a sister city was monopolizing
the construction of fast vessels, and for many years
he urged Boston merchants to enter the lists with
Messrs. Aspinwall, Captain N. B. Palmer and
others, and dispute for the palm of speed."
Editor Griffiths was the designer of the two ships.
Rainbow and Sea Witch, built by Smith & Dimon,
of which he made mention, and his statement that
the Houqua was a clipper is therefore conclusive
evidence that she was so.
Another quotation which seems worth giving here
is found in an essay, entitled "Ships, Models, Ship-
building, &c.," which was printed in Hunt's Mer-
chants* Magazine, in February, 1848. The un-
named writer considers at length certain innovations
in models which had appeared in recent years and
the arguments for and against them. These innova-
tions had been introduced by Editor Griffiths, who
supported them with mathematical calculations
which the ordinary shipbuilders could not make.
The writer of the essay was unconvinced by the
scientific calculations, and he was still doubtful after
considering the speed records of the two Griffiths'
clippers, Rainbow and Sea Witch. In fact, his chief
object in writing the essay was to prove that "ex-
perience, judgment and talent are requisite," and in
The First Yankee Clipper i8i
fact were more important, when a fast ship was to be
designed, than "science and mathematics."
In the course of his argument he wrote as follows :
"The Houqua, Coquette, Crusader , Valparaiso ,
Paul Jones, and other ships were not built by mere
science and mathematics; and yet few vessels built
at navy yards equal them."
The fact that the Houqua came to the mind of
this writer first of all shows, of course, that she
was a noted ship in 1848, and that was at a time
when new records for speed were the chief topic
of conversation in New York City.
No writer has ever disputed the claim that the
Houqua was a noted clipper, but it has been said by
modern writers that the Rainbow was the first of
the famous fleet, while Captain Palmer asserted that
his Houqua was first. The question at Issue is
therefore primarily one of dates only. Was the
Houqua the first ship to enter the China trade or
was the Rainbow?
In the letter previously quoted. Captain Palmer
says that the contract for the Houqua was signed
the first of November, 1843, ^^^ that she sailed
for Canton in June, 1844. To support these state-
ments of fact there is a list of the ships built by
Brown & Bell, between 1821 and 1847, inclusive,
which was printed in the Merchants^ Magazine in
December, 1848 (p. 643). This table says that
the Houqua, of 706 tons, was launched in 1844, and
1 82 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
was the first of two that were built there during that
year. Searches have been made in files of the New
York Herald and other New York periodicals and
in the records of Lloyds' "Register of Shipping" for
the exact date when the Houqua was launched, but
without avail. Nor was the exact date of the launch-
ing of the Rainbow found. But it is not doubted
that the Houqua went afloat some time in May,
1844. As to the Rainbow it appears from various
accounts that her keel was placed on the blocks
early in 1843 — certainly several months before the
keel of the Houqua was stretched. But because of
disputes between William H. Aspinwall, the owner,
and John Willis Griffiths, the designer, the work of
building her was delayed so long that she was not
launched until January, 1845. The most interesting
of all the magazine histories of this ship which have
been printed was written by William Brown Meloney
for the Saturday Evening Post, of Philadelphia. It
appeared on February 26, 19 16, and the following
is quoted by permission:
"So it was not until a cold and cheerless morn-
ing in January, 1845, that the Rainbow, whose keel
had been laid nearly two years before, was ready
to leave the ways. . . . The Rainbow sailed in
February for China."
Meloney's statement is confirmed by Captain
Clark's "Clipper Ship Era." It is therefore certain
that the Rainbow was launched seven months after
the Houqua had sailed for Canton.
CHAPTER XVII
THE GRIFFITHS CLIPPERS
WHILE the records show that the Rainbow
sailed for China long after the sailing
of the Houqua, it must be obvious to the
reader that In any consideration of the relative in-
fluence of the two ships upon the evolution of the
clippers the character of each as a cargo carrier is
of more importance than the date on which each
was commissioned.
Perhaps it should be said, first of all, however,
that while Griffiths and Captain Palmer differed in
their opinions of models, their personal relations
were friendly. The references to Captain Palmer's
work which Griffiths wrote in the Nautical Maga-
zine are conclusive evidence that their rivalry, such
as it was, was entirely devoid of personal ill will.
There was, indeed, no occasion for any such feeling,
for each was amply supported by the ship owners
of the coast, and the results obtained by each were
unmistakably set forth in the records of the ships
and the bank accounts of the owners.
Because there were two distinct lines of evolution
in the development of the clippers — rather say two
lines of models — the variety which Griffiths origi-
183
184 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
nated shall have first consideration here. The fact
is that the circumstances under which this naval
architect became prominent, as well as the records
of the ships he designed, indicate attention herein
to his work as a designer ahead of that of Captain
Palmer.
In 1841-J'ohn Willis Griffiths was a draftsman in
the employ of Smith & Dimon, then well known ship
builders. He was a man of education — able, for ex-
ample, to calculate the displacement of a ship, the
center of gravity of her hull and the center of effort
of her sails, all from her plans.
His work as a draftsman naturally made him
entirely familiar with models of the swift packets
of the day, but while these vessels were acknowl-
edged to be superior in all respects to the competing
ships, Griffiths became convinced that in certain
features of the hulls they might be greatly im-
proved. At a meeting of the American Institute in
1 84 1, he delivered a lecture, illustrated with draw-
ings, by which he sought to prove that existing
models were defective. His effort attracted little
attention but a year later he came again, this time
with a model, and repeated his criticisms. For this
lecture he was jeered.
Griffiths, however, had the admirable quality of
persistence. He sought and secured opportunities
for explaining his views in public, until he obtained
as a respectful listener one of the most enterprising
merchants in New York, Mr. William H. Aspin-
The Griffiths Clippers 185
wall, the one who, later, built the Panama Railroad.
Asplnwall believed that American trade with China
would be greatly Increased by the results of the
Opium War, and soon after hearing, early in 1843,
that four ports had been opened in China, he de-
termined to build for the trade a ship of about 750
tons — much larger than the average of those pre-
viously engaged in it. He knew, of course, that a
swift ship was most desirable, and, having been
favorably impressed with the views of young
Griffiths, he was persuaded to sign a contract with
Smith & Dimon for a Griffiths model. The name
Rainbow was given to the ship to express the hope
that her size as well as her speed would suit the
trade; for a ship of her tons was as yet experimental.
Consider, now, the peculiarities of model for
which Griffiths contended. As editor of the Nau-
tical Magazine, later, he wrote a number of ar-
ticles in which he set forth his views of models.
Thus, in describing the Lightning, built by Donald
McKay, of Boston (McKay had been converted to
the Griffiths views), the following words were used:
"No timid hand or hesitating brain gave form
and dimensions to the Lightning. Very great sta-
bility; acute extremities; full, short midship body;
comparatively small deadrise, and the longest end
forward, are points in the excellence of this ship."
To secure "acute extremities" the underwater
lines at each end were made concave instead of
1 86 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
convex — she had hollow water lines, to use the
vernacular. The bow was comparable to an old-
fashioned, hollow-ground razor. One may imagine
that Griffiths conceived this shape for bow and stern
while shaving.
Donald McKay, as noted above, adopted the
Griffiths view. Another notable designer who did
so was George Steers, who designed the famous
yacht America. The Rainbow and the Sea Witch
were the only ships of Griffiths design which became
famous, but Donald McKay turned out a great
fleet which made most remarkable passages.
But Griffiths certainly had much trouble with the
first of his ships. As already intimated the launch-
ing was delayed nearly two years. The designers
of the ordinary models continued jeering the new
model after Aspinwall signed the contract, and the
newspapers printed the criticisms. Aspinwall was
greatly affected by the adverse comment and made
many efforts to induce Griffiths to yield to the clamor,
but without avail. He even sent to England for
a sail plan for use on the new ship — that too, al-
though the American packets had a lead on the
Atlantic which England had never disputed. Grif-
fiths was obliged to accept this plan without open
protest, but he nevertheless used his own when the
spars were set and the sails were made; and so at
last the Rainbow as launched was his in model from
truck down to keel.
Meloney notes in the Saturday Evening Post that
The Griffiths Clippers 187
the Rainbow cost Aspinwall $45,000, which the
reader may compare with the $19,500 which the
Lows and Captain Palmer paid for the Houqua;
for the percentage of profit made on any venture
is figured, of course, from the original investment.
But when at last the Rainbow sailed from Sandy
Hook on her way to Canton, the troubles of John
Willis GrifHths as a designer were at end; for she
proved to be a swift and profitable ship. The record
of her passages to and from Canton in her maiden
voyage have been lost but in her second voyage
she beat her way against the northeast monsoon
and arrived out in 92 days while her homeward
passage was made in 88 days. She was thus only
180 days at sea in this voyage. Better yet she made,
it is said, a profit of 100% on her cost.
In the magazine stories of the clipper era It is
commonly asserted that the short voyages of the
Rainbow led to the building of the next Griffiths
clipper, the Sea Witch, As a matter of fact the
Rainbow^s passages were, as said, wonderful, but
they did not break the speed record. They did not
even equal the record of the Houqua. A ship named
the Natchez, to be described in another chapter, had
set a pace which but one ship ever equaled on the
Canton-New York route, and it was the work of the
master of the Natchez, Captain Robert H. Water-
man (Captain "Bob"), that led Rowland & Aspin-
wall to build another sharp-hulled ship for the China
trade. Waterman went to the yard of Smith &
1 88 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
Dimon to superintend the construction of this
ship, but Griffiths drew her plans. She was launched
under the name of Sea Witch. She was 170 feet
long, 33 feet, 11 Inches wide and 19 feet deep.
She measured 890 tons. She sailed for China on
December 23, 1846, and poked the golden dragon
on her cutwater Into the harbor of Hong Kong
104 days later. She then came home from Canton
in 81 days, which was not the record run, though
really a wonder.
In her second voyage the Sea Witch made Hong
Kong In 105 days and then on her return broke all
records and made a new one which stands to this
day; for she arrived in New York at the end of
77 days from Canton. A picture of this ship under
all sail including royal studding-sails, which was
used to illustrate Captain Arthur Clark's "Glimpse
of the Clipper-Ship Days," in Harper's Magazine^
dated July, 1908 (copyrighted), was labeled "The
Swiftest Clipper of Her Day."
Griffiths always declared that the Sea Witch had
more Influence upon the models of the clippers built
thereafter than any other ship of the period. Just
how far this claim was justified cannot now be de-
termined, but it is certain that Griffiths' chief Ideas
were adopted by Donald McKay, and that McKay
built more clippers which became famous for speed
than any other shipbuilder of the era.
It is therefore proper to give here, in connection
with Griffiths' work, the records made by some of
The Griffiths Clippers 189
the McKay ships which were built to the Griffiths
model.
The Lightningy mentioned above as having
dragged twenty-one knots of logline from the reel
during one turn of the glass, made the record run
for twenty-four consecutive hours — 436 miles. Per-
haps it should be said here that every use of the
word mile in this book means a sea mile, 6,080.27
feet long, and not a land mile which is 5,280 feet
long. McKay's Sovereign of the Seas, commanded
by Captain Laughlan McKay, a brother of Donald,
in a run of 82 days from Honolulu to New York,
covered (in March, 1853), 3,562 miles in eleven
consecutive days. She crossed from New York to
Liverpool in 13 days and 19 hours. Later, in a
passage from San Francisco to New York, she cov-
ered 6,245 miles in 22 days.
The Flying Cloud, built by McKay for Enoch
Train, of Boston (she was commanded by Captain
Josiah P. Cressy), made the record passage from
New York to San Francisco in 84 days. The record
from San Francisco to New York, 76 days, was
made by three different ships — the Comet, the
Northern Light and the Trade Wind. The record
voyage around the world, 132 days between ports,
was made by the James Baines, a McKay ship, be-
ginning December 9, 1854 (Meloney).
In connection with these records consider two ex-
tracts from log books of clippers which are printed
in Clark's "Clipper Ship Era." On February i,
190 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
1850, the Great Britain, Captain Philip Dumaresq,
"passed a ship under double reefs with our royals
and studding sails set." On June 16, 1854, the
James Baines, while sailing 17 knots an hour under
skysalls, passed a ship named the Lihertas under
double reefed topsails. Can any one now imagine
the feelings of the captain of the Lihertas as he
saw that glorious Yankee clipper sweep past the
hulk he commanded?
With the records of the two Griffiths ships, Rain-
how and Sea Witch, before them, together with
those of the McKay ships Lightning, Sovereign of
the Seas and Flying Cloud, it was entirely natural
that writers should have believed that the Griffiths
model was "the one which the sea liked best."
Nevertheless, if all the facts in the clipper records
be considered in connection with modern, or say
later, usage in the design of swift models of the
sail, it can be demonstrated beyond dispute that
the chief feature of those swift clippers — the hollow
water line — was a positive detriment. The ships
made short passages because of certain other fea-
tures of model and construction, and because of the
way they were handled. But before going Into a
discussion of these technical points of ship construc-
tion the clippers designed by Captain Palmer, and
their records, must have consideration.
CHAPTER XVIII
THE CAPTAIN AND HIS FLEET
THE name Houqua, which was given to the
first ship of the great American clipper
fleet, was that of a native merchant of
Canton. The foreign trade of Canton was done
by a dozen natives who owned big warehouses
called hongs, and who were known as hong
merchants. The emperor held them responsible
for all import duties and they were in several
ways men of much importance. The twelve were
under the command of one known as the senior
hong merchant, and the one who held this post in
1843 was named Houqua, a man who was famous
for ''sound judgment; true prudence; wary circum-
spection and a wise economy," to quote an appre-
ciation printed in Hunt's Merchants^ Magazine,
Moreover "his predilections were American."
While the ship was on the ways, a beautiful full-
rigged model of the Houqua was made to carry as
a present to the merchant, but he had died in Sep-
tember, 1843, before her keel had been laid on the
blocks. The model was delivered to his family.
In her first voyage. Captain Palmer commanded
the Houqua, with Thomas Hunt as first mate, Wil-
191
192 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
Ham Gardner, second mate, and Charles P. Low,
third mate. Low, in his autiobiography, mentioned
above, naturally had much to say about the ship
and her officers. He had already made a voyage
to China in a ship called the Horatio, the fastest
ship in the China trade (1842), "but she could not
make over ten knots an hour."
While the exact date of the launching of the
Houqua is not given, he notes that "Captain N. B.
Palmer had no superstition as to Friday being a
bad day to sail, though at that time sailors objected
to going to sea on Friday and many merchants were
superstitious enough to wait for Saturday and even
Sunday before sending their ships to sea. The
Houqua was launched on Friday, was towed down
town on Friday, went to sea on Friday and arrived
in Hong Kong on Friday, but she was a very lucky
ship for years, at any rate."
The ship was loaded at Peck Slip. "Times had
changed in the short interval since my coming home
in the Horatio/' (A change due to the Opium War.)
"Then the ships went out with almost no cargo but
lead and coal, and now our ship was loaded with
pig lead, lumber, cotton sheetings and naval stores —
pitch, tar and turpentine. She was full, so there
was no 'tweendecks for the sailmaker, carpenter
and boys. The boys had to go to the forecastle
with the men and a house over the main hatch was
fitted for the third mate, carpenter and sailmaker.
The Captain and His Fleet 193
It was a good sized room and very comfortable.
. . . We had quite a number of passengers.
*'We had a good sendoff by our family and a
large number of friends who went down the bay
with us. . . . Captain Palmer was a rough old sailor.
He was determined to see me get along, and helped
me more than any other man to know my duty
as an officer and to fit me for a master. . . . Be-
sides teaching me seamanship, Mr. Hunt, with the
captain's knowledge, had me take my quadrant and
take the sun at noon and work up the latitude by
observation and find the latitude and longitude by
dead reckoning. The captain is the only one who
finds the longitude by chronometer. . . . Captain
Palmer and Mr. Hunt got along splendidly and
of course everything went off happily. . . . Mr.
Hunt was a jolly fellow and apt to make too free"
with some kinds of captains, but "Captain Nat Pal-
mer rather enjoyed his wit and stories."
"The ship made a fine passage of 72 days to
Anjer, where we laid in a stock of chickens, turtles,
yams, bananas, oranges, and mangusteens. Captain
Palmer was a believer in good feed, not alone for
the cabin; he believed in giving the sailors the very
best of salt beef and pork, and plenty of it; and
everything else they had to eat was of the very
best. . . . Here we filled our casks with fresh water
brought by the natives. After doing this we pro-
ceeded up the China Sea and sailed into Hong
194 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
Kong, 84 days from New York, a splendid
passage."
The Houqua was soon ordered to Whampoa (12
miles below Canton), where all ships were loaded
from Chinese boats that came down from the city.
It was custom of the ship captains to go up to the
city to live while waiting for cargo, but Low says
that "Captain Palmer was very fond of his ship
and would rather live on board at Whampoa and
have company than stay in Canton. . . . He had
a room on shore assigned to him and was welcome
to stay as long as he liked; and when he did go
up he had a fast sampan, or Chinese boat, to take
him up and bring him back.
"All the ships had to lie a long time in port,
and after the rigging was overhauled and tarred
down, and all was painted aloft, the hull was painted
inside and out, the deck was holystoned as white
as snow, and then everything was kept in splendid
order.''
Unhappily for the peace of the second mate of
the Houqua, however, the sailors had a pet monkey
that was, on a certain Saturday afternoon, fastened
on the bowsplit within reach of a 50-pound keg
of black paint. "Like a monkey, always full of
mischief, he upset the paint, which ran down the
scuppers as far as the mainmast and over the clean
white deck. The second mate caught the monkey
and swabbed the paint up with him till he would
hold no more, and then threw him overboard. But
The Captain and His Fleet 195
this made matters worse, for the monkey caught
the side ladder and came up; and before any one
could stop him ran the whole length of the bulwarks
leaving black paint all over the fresh straw-colored
paint, and making an awful mess."
As the ship had to be Immaculate for Sunday all
hands turned to and cleaned up the mess the monkey
had made, and when this had been done the beast
was shaved, washed and forgiven.
The Houqua's passage of 84 days to Hong Kong
was then the shortest on record and It has not often
been equaled since then. She left for New York
on December 9, 1844, and arrived in 90 days. A
year later she made the passage home in 91 days.
In connection with these two passages home, ob-
serve that the famous Flying Cloudy which made
the record run of 89 days from New York to San
Francisco, used 94 days in making her shortest
passage from Canton to New York and 96 in mak-
ing her next best run on the route. The Comet,
that made the record of 76 days from San Fran-
cisco east, was 99 days making her best run from
Canton to New York. The Hoiiqua, though smaller
than either of these splendid flyers, was therefore
manifestly a peer.
It may also be noted that the total number of
days passed at sea by the Houqua during her first
voyage was 174. The Rainbow in her second and
most famous voyage was 180 days at sea. Captain
John Land of the Rainbow boasted, after com-
196 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
pleting her second voyage, that she was the fastest
ship on earth, and his boast was accepted thereafter
by about all writers until Captain Clark published
the record of the Hoiiqua in "The Clipper Ship
Era." The Rainbow never equaled the Houqua^s
record.
At the end of the first voyage Captain Nat left
the Houqua to his brother Alexander, but he took
command again for the third voyage, "taking his
wife and a niece of his. Miss Fanning." Low was
now the mate of the ship and his autobiography
gives several Interesting little sketches of the mas-
ter. For example:
One day when "the ship was rolling fearfully . . .
the captain put his head out of the cabin scuttle and
asked me how the weather was. I told him It was
more moderate just then, but thought It would blow
again at 8 o'clock. He then said:
" 'Mr. Low, shake the reefs out of the maintop-
sail, set the main topgallantsail and main royal, and
let her roll over, shipshape and Bristol fashion, with
all her canvas on her.' At eight it began to blow
again and the captain put his head out of the scuttle
and called out :
" 'Mr. Low, take In the main royal, the main top-
gallantsail and close reef the maintopsall, and let
her roll over and be damned to her.'
"He was very passionate," Low says. "In calm
weather he would come on deck with an old v/hlte
beaver hat on, take It off and stamp on it, and damn
The Captain and His Fleet 197
the calm and everything else. But he never abused
the men."
Because so much had been said in novels of the sea
about the cruelty of the officers of American ships
in the clippper days, perhaps an actual use of force
upon an American ship may be described. With
Captain Charles Porter Low in command, the
Houqua sailed from New York for China on April
6, 1849, ^^d a large party of friends of the Lows
and of Captain Palmer went down to Sandy Hook
with her to celebrate her departure. As it hap-
pened, sailors were scarce in New York, at that time,
and the crimps had made up the crew of the Houqua
from such men as could be scraped up. As the ship
approached Sandy Hook the sailmaker went to his
room and refused to come out and go to work when
ordered to do so by the mate. Thereupon the mate
took him by the throat and dragged him forth.
This use of force overcame the man's obstinacy,
but when the pleasure-seekers saw the mate use
force, they were so badly shocked (although the
man was not beaten) that Captain Nat Palmer felt
obliged to bring the Houqua to anchor, take the
mate back to New York and bring another in his
place. The Houqua was actually detained several
hours in order to replace a mate who had used force
to compel an obstinate seaman to do duty.
Low mentions once more the unusual drilling he
received in order to fit him for the command of a
ship. He not only worked out the longitude by
198 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
the chronometer but he was allowed to put the ship
about in all kinds of weather. In short he had
full command of the deck. He was 22 years old
at the time.
Of the captain^s strength of body Low wrote:
"If it was necessary he could stand any fatigue
and exposure and I am quite sure that" his allow-
ing Low to manage the ship "was to teach me con-
fidence in myself and also to give me experience."
Speaking of live passengers in the cabin — all
young men — Low says :
"They had plenty of liquor on board and almost
every evening they would get on deck and sing songs
and spin yarns until 10 o'clock, when they had to
retire, for no lights were allowed after that. Cap-
tain Palmer would always absent himself till they
got through their fun, but he never objected."
The most remarkable passage of the Houqua was
that made in a run home from Shanghai in 1850.
The Houqua was then six years old and she had
been driven to the limit of endurance during all
her life. She had theretofore been thrown on her
beam ends in a cyclone and had been "strained
and weakened," to use the words of Captain Clark
in connection with the Sea Witch in one of her races.
To those words Captain Clark added:
"Moreover, a wooden ship, after five or six years,
begins to lose her speed through absorbing water,
and becomes sluggish in light airs."
The Captain and His Fleet 199
In spite of handicaps thus described, the Hoiiqua
sailed home from Shanghai in 87 days, as a letter
from Captain Palmer to his family said at the time.
It was a record-breaking passage at the time, but
the important fact in the run is that it shows she
had been built for strength and endurance as well
as speed. A further proof of her efficiency is found
in the fact that she was a profitable ship in the
long-haul trades until 1865, when she was lost in
a typhoon in the China Sea.
This matter of endurance is of importance here
because the influence of a ship upon ships built sub-
sequently depends upon the profits made more than
upon any one fact in her history. For profit, the
Houqua was one of the most notable of her day
because, first, she was efficient, and next because
she cost comparatively little in the beginning. When
the Houqua was built, A. A. Low & Brother oc-
cupied a small office in Fletcher Street. The profit
made by the ship enabled them to move to com-
modious quarters in Burling Slip. The great profits
made by her and the other clippers built by the
firm created the great fortune for which they were
famous. It was because these ships were profitable
that Mr. Seth Low, son of A. A. Low, was able
to give Columbia University a million dollars while
he was at the head of that famous school.
Of course Captain Palmer shared in this pros-
perity. He did, indeed, receive only $500 for de-
signing and superintending the construction of each
200 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
ship the firm brought out, for that was a day of
low wages; but he owned a quarter of the Houqua
and he held shares — usually an eighth — in each one
he built. It was because of his success as a ship
owner as well as a ship designer that he came to
be ranked as one of the foremost ship merchants
in New York.
It was the profit made by the Houqiia, of course,
that led the Lows to build the Samuel Russell, of
940 tons. She was named for the head of the
famous American firm of Russell & Co., of Hong
Kong.
Captain Clark, in "The Clipper Ship Era," says,
"She was a beautiful vessel, heavily sparred, with
plenty of light canvas for moderate weather, and
every inch a clipper,"
The Russell is frequently mentioned in the stories
of the American clippers. For example, it is said
that in her first passage out she required 114 days,
a long time for a clipper; and yet on one day when
she had a breeze she covered 328 miles in twenty-
four consecutive hours, a distance that was then
astounding. Better yet, in a run home from Canton
in 1 85 1 (when she was five years old) she covered
6,722 miles in thirty consecutive days, an average
of 226 miles a day.
In one magazine. Captain Palmer is credited with
this run but he was in New York at the time. He
had recently sent the Contest afloat and was prepar-
ing to build the David Brown.
The Captain and His Fleet 201
In the meantime the Russell had engaged in a
famous race from New York around the Horn to
San Francisco, in which seven clippers competed,
the more famous of which were the Houqua and
the Sea Witch. The Russell arrived out in 109
days, and thus broke the previous record by twelve
days, but the Sea Witch made the passage in 97
days. The Houqua was 120 days on the way.
The Russell was commanded by Captain Charles
P. Low, for this voyage, and his account of it seems
worth quoting in part because it shows not only
the quality of the Palmer design but how ships were
loaded when freights were high. Low received let-
ters, while in Whampoa, telling him he was to take
the Russell on his return to New York, and the
Houqua, on arrival at New York, was towed directly
to the pier where the Russell had been taking in
cargo. Low found Captain Theodore Palmer, a
young brother of Captain Nat, temporarily in com-
mand of the Russell, and he was to take her to sea
in case Low failed to arrive in time or refused to
go in her.
Palmer at once inquired if Low would go in her
and Low replied that he would. The narrative
continues ;
"He [Theo Palmer] then went on board the
ship and ordered the mate to have all the sails taken
out of the fore peak and put in the cabin to make
room for more freight. The mate said:
202 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
'' 'Captain Low is going in the ship, is he not?'
and Captain Palmer said:
" 'Yes, he will take command.' The mate said:
" 'I knew it, for if you were going this would not
be done; for the ship is loaded now as deep as a
sand barge.'
"And she was; her scuppers were not more than a
foot out of water. There was plenty of freight
offering and the ship had a freight list of nearly
$75,000, and she received a dollar and a half a foot,
or $60 a ton, for all she had on board. . . . On the
15th of January, 1850, I left the pilot at Sandy
Hook, bound on a voyage around the world. We
had a fresh wind from westward, and when we
reached the Gulf Stream we found how deep in
the water the ship was and how slowly she rose
to the seas. The wind increased to a heavy gale
and while running under close reefed topsails and
a foresail, a sea boarded us over the starboard
quarter." It swept the captain and the mate for
sixty feet along the deck and landed the man at the
wheel in the mizzen rigging. All the compasses in
the ship were destroyed save a little one designed
for small boats, "but we managed to get along and
in twenty days crossed the line, ... a great run of
luck." Off Rio, a ship bound for San Francisco
was overhauled and two compasses were borrowed
from her.
Then came the Horn. Low was in waters with
which he was unacquainted. "The barometer was
The Captain and His Fleet 203
unusually low and I lost some days from carrying
small canvas In preparation for gales that never
came. . . . We had very high seas and the ship's
deck was flooded, day after day. Sometimes she
would go under water and it seemed as though she
would never come up."
And yet she arrived in San Francisco in 109 days
from New York, breaking the record, and the San
Francisco newspapers Issued extras in celebration
of the event.
It is worth recalling that Low sailed the Russell
into port without a pilot. The pilot hailed him off
the Farallones and Low asked the price. The pilot
replied $8 a foot for the total draft of the ship,
but he added in a reply to a question that if the ship
entered without a pilot only $4 a foot would be
collected. The ship was drawing twenty feet. Low
says he sailed in without a pilot in order to save
$80, but the context shows that he was animated
by pride of achievement only. At any rate he de-
clared that a captain who was worth his salt should
be able to enter a port like San Francisco aided
by the chart only, even though he had never seen it
before. It was, in fact, characteristic of our sailors
of the sail to handle their ships in ways requiring
extraordinary skill and then airily declare that they
were merely anxious to save some trifling sum of
money.
In his summary of records of the California
clippers Captain Clark divides the passage from
204 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
New York Into sections and gives the records of
various clippers In each section. The Great Re-
public, after she was rebuilt by Captain Palmer, as
described In another chapter, held the honors for
the passage from Sandy Hook to the Equator, hav-
ing made the run in i6 days. The Samuel Russell
made the shortest run from Cape St. Roque to 50°
south latitude In the Atlantic In 16 days. The Young
America made the record run from 50° south In the
Atlantic to 50° south In the Pacific in 6 days. The
Live Yankee and the Mary L. Sutton ran from 50°
south to the Equator In the Pacific in 16 days, while
the White Squall made the record from the Equator
to San Francisco in 14 days.
The White Squall (1,118 tons) was "very simi-
lar In design and construction to the Samuel Russell
and Oriental,'^ according to Captain Clark.
If any ship had been able to equal the record
over each of the sections (allowing two days for
the run from the Equator to Cape St. Roque), she
might have made the passage from Sandy Hook to
San Francisco In less than 70 days.
The Russell endured the strains of hard driving
until 1870, when she was wrecked in Caspar Strait.
The most famous of the clippers designed by
Captain Palmer was the Oriental, which followed
the Russell in 1849. I^ one respect she was the
most famous of all the clipper fleet, for it was when
she appeared in London after a record run from
Canton that the British for the first time, freely
Captain Nathaniel B. Palmer.
The Captain and His Fleet 205
and cordially acknowledged American supremacy In
the long-haul trades, as they had previously acknowl-
edged our lead on the North Atlantic. The Oriental
was 185 feet long, 36 wide and 21 deep. She
measured 1,003 tons and she cost $70,000.
The Oriental sailed from New York bound for
China on September 14, 1849, under the command
of Captain Theodore D. Palmer, a younger brother
of Captain Nat. That he was abundantly able to
sustain the reputation of the Palmer family was
apparent after he had made two voyages in the
Oriental. For his first return from Canton was
made in 81 days, or only four days more than the
record short passage. Because of the speed of the
ship, and because of the record of the designer as
well as that of the captain, the Oriental was next
chartered to carry tea from Canton to London.*
On May i8th the ship sailed from New York for
Hong Kong and arrived out In 81 days, breaking
the record for the passage east. Then she took on
a load of 1,600 tons of tea for London. No
American ship had ever been chartered to carry tea
from China to London. In fact, no Yankee clipper
of any size had appeared in any English port,
though, as Lindsay notes in his history, the records
of the clippers were as well known In London as
In New York. Young Captain Theo. Palmer knew
very well how the seafaring population of the
*The ship was loaded by Russell & Co., of whom Captain R. B.
Forbes, of Boston, was then the head.
2o6 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
British capital would receive him if he were able
to make a record passage, and he realized that he
had other reasons for driving his ship to the utmost
limit. In fact, he felt that the honor of the Ameri-
can merchant service was, in a very real sense, in
his keeping. But while he thus had every induce-
ment for vigilance and persistence he must have felt
a sinking of hope when he was ready to depart, for
an adverse change in the monsoon occurred before
the ship was loaded.
Monsoon is the name given to the prevailing
winds along the south and east coasts of Asia, and
more especially the winds that prevail on the Indian
Ocean at certain seasons.
"From October to April," says the Cyclopedia of
Commerce, *'a gentle, dry, northeast breeze pre-
vails." It was against this gentle breeze that Cap-
tain John Land sailed the Rainbow in her second
passage to Canton. "From April till October," con-
tinues the Cyclopedia, "a violent southwest wind
blows, accompanied with rain."
Captain Palmer in his effort to make a notable
passage from Canton to London was obliged to beat
his way down the Asiatic coast and across the Indian
Ocean against this ^'violent southwest wind."
It was a race against time. All previous record-
breaking passages from Canton had been made with
studding-sails spread alow and aloft before the
"gentle, dry, northeast breeze." The Oriental had
to smash her way through adverse gales, but she
The Captain and His Fleet 207
won. When the British clipper Challenger^ in later
years, made the passage in 113 days she was hailed
as a superb sailer, and so she was; but the Oriental
was driven to London in 97 days.
As Meloney says in the story already quoted:
"The Oriental was the first out-and-out clipper
London ever saw. Photographs of her were
printed; she became the subject of newspaper lead-
ers adjuring Britishers to take a lesson from her
or prepare to forsake the sea. . . > The Gov-
ernment copied her lines while she lay in drydock.
Afterwards the lines of other Yankee flyers were
taken off similarly, but the Oriental was the first
inspiration of British builders, who, though they
were to launch many beautiful cracks, never suc-
ceeded in producing one to vie with the American
champions." (Italics not in original.)
Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer was in London
when the Oriental arrived, and a letter he wrote
about the matter, said that Captain Theodore was
"a Lion" in that port. He also brought home a
copy of the Illustrated London News, dated De-
cember 21, 1850, which contained a picture of the
Oriental, and the following :
"The Ship Oriental.
"Although many British ships have arrived at
New York and Boston from China, since the altera-
tion in the Navigation Laws, the first American
2o8 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
ship (the Oriental) only arrived in the West
India docks on the 3d instant.
"The ship Oriental, of New York, Captain
Palmer (above 1,000 tons), was built for the
China trade : she sailed from New York on her
first voyage, the 14th of September, 1849, ^^^ ^^'
rived at Hong Kong by the Eastern Passage, Jan-
uary I, 1850, being 109 days.' She discharged and
took in a full cargo for New York, sailed 30th
January, and arrived in New York April 21st, mak-
ing eighty-one days' passage; discharged and took
in full cargo, and sailed May i8th for Hong Kong;
arrived August 8th, making eighty-one days' pas-
sage : discharged and took in full cargo and sailed
for London, August 28th; beat down the China sea
against the S. W. monsoon in twenty-one days to
Anjer, and arrived off Scilly in ninety-one days, and
into West India dock in ninety-seven days. A period
of fourteen months and nineteen days has elapsed
since she sailed on her first voyage from New York,
since which time she has sailed 67,000 miles, and
is now chartered to sail again for Canton, on loth
January, 185 1. The above facts are taken from the
log-book, by permission of Capt. T. D. Palmer, by
M. J. Skiller of Wapping.
*'We should add that the Oriental brings about
1,600 tons of tea at £6 per ton, whilst all the ships
loading at Whampoa at the same time only got
£3 I OS. The bulk of her cargo is consigned to three
The Captain and His Fleet 209
firms of the highest eminence, whose Correspondents
av^alled themselves of the opportunity even at such a
high rate of freight, the Oriental being known
for her fast sailing qualities, which she fully verified.
"This Is a severe lesson to our ship owners, and
will show them that the British merchants abroad
are still ready to pay high freights for superior ships.
"The main dimensions of the Oriental are;
Length, 183 feet; beam, 2>^ feet; hold, 21 feet; poop
deck, 45 feet; topgallant forecastle, 30 feet."
Lindsay, the English author of a "History of
Merchant Shipping," necessarily gave considerable
attention to the American clippers In the China trade.
He says that beginning In 1845 "various vessels
were despatched from New York and Boston to
Whampoa [Canton's port] which surpassed ours
in speed, having low hulls, great beam, very fine
lines and with yards so square as to spread a far
larger amount of canvas in proportion to their
tonnage than any vessels hitherto afloat."
The names of the clippers which had especially
attracted his attention were given (Vol. Ill, p. 292),
in the following paragraph:
"There is no doubt that at this period there were
few ships afloat which could rival In speed the
Oriental, Challenge, Sea JVitch, Flying Cloud and
various similar vessels the Americans had sent forth
to compete with us In the trade from China."
2IO Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
In describing the effect of the Oriental upon the
people of London Captain Clark's "Clipper Ship
Era" says:
"Throngs of people visited the West India Docks
to look at the Oriental. They certainly saw a beau-
tiful ship ; every line of her long, black hull indicated
power and speed; her tall, raking masts and skysail
yards towered above the spars of the shipping in
the docks ; her white cotton sails were neatly furled
under bunt, quarter, and yardarm gaskets; while
her topmast, topgallant and royal studdingsail
booms and long, heavy lower studdingsail booms
swung in along her rails, gave an idea of the enor-
mous spread of canvas held in reserve for light
and moderate leading winds; her blocks, standing
and running rigging were neatly fitted to stand great
stress and strain, but with no unnecessary top-ham-
per or weight aloft. On deck everything was for
use. The spare spars, scraped bright and varnished,
were neatly lashed along the water ways; the inner
side of the bulwarks, the rails and the deck houses
were painted pure white; the hatch coamings, sky-
lights, pin-rails, and companions were of Spanish
mahogany; the narrow planks of her clear-pine deck,
with the gratings and ladders, were scrubbed and
holystoned to the whiteness of cream; the brass cap-
stan heads, bells, belaying pins, gangway stanchions,
and brass work about the wheel, binnacle and sky-
lights were of glittering brightness. Throughout
The Captain and His Fleet 211
she was a triumph of the shipwright's and seaman's
toil and skill.
''No ship like the Oriental had ever been seen in
England, and the, ship owners of London were con-
strained to admit that they had nothing to compare
with her in speed, beauty of model, rig, or construc-
tion. It is not too much to say that the arrival of
this vessel in London with her cargo of tea in this
crisis of 1850, aroused almost as much apprehen-
sion and excitement in Great Britain as was created
by the memorable Tea Party held in Boston in
I773-"
The London Times is quoted as follows:
"We must run a race with our gigantic and un-
shackled rival. We must set our long-practised
skill, our steady industry and our dogged determina-
tion against his youth, ingenuity and ardor. It is
a father who races with his son. A fell necessity
constrains us and we must not be beat. Let our
ship-builders and employers take warning in time."
The Yankee ship of the sail was at last the swag-
gering lord of all the Seven Seas, and it was a ship
designed by Captain Palmer that compelled this
final recognition of American ability. The captain
had come late to the work of building up the reputa-
tion of the Liverpool packet fleet, but he led all
others in spreading the fame of the clippers in the
212 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
home of Britannia, the one-time (also the modern)
mistress of the seas.
The next ship built after the Oriental to the
captain's designs was named for him — the TV. B.
Palmer. She was one of the largest of his clippers —
214 feet long by 39 broad and 22 deep. She meas-
ured 1,490 tons. Captain Clark wrote as follows
regarding this ship :
*'The N. B. Palmer was perhaps the most famous
ship built in the Westervelt yard. In China she
was known as 'the Yacht,' and with her nettings
in the tops, brass guns, gold stripe and her lavish
entertainments on the Fouth of July and Washing-
ton's Birthday, she well deserved the title. . . .
A full rigged model of the A^. B. Palmer was ex-
hibited at the Crystal Palace, London, in 185 1, and
attracted much attention as a fine example of the
American clipper type."
Captain Charles P. Low, who commanded this
ship for several years, wrote as follows regarding
her launching:
"Some time in March, 185 1, the ship was ready
for launching; she had all her spars aloft, royal
and skysail yards crossed, and ... no ballast but
her chain cables in her hold. ... A finer, hand-
somer ship never was built. . . . Captain Palmer,
to my disgust, put me in charge of a steam tug,
with a large number of young girls and men and
women of his acquaintance, to go and see the launch-
The Captain and His Fleet 213
ing from the water. I wanted to be launched in the
ship. However, I had a jolly crowd to take care of,
and we had a fine lunch, champagne and cigars, on
board, and a better view of the launching than they
had on shore. It was a splendid sight to see that
huge craft slide down the ways. . . . After it was
over ... I went up to the ship yard and found
the ship alongside the wharf, leaking like a sieve,
and Captain Palmer in no good humor."
It was then too late to put her in drydock to ex-
amine her for the leak and so men were hired
to pump her out during the night. Next day it was
learned that an inch and a quarter treenail had been
left out below the water line, "and a whole lot of
water can be forced through such a hole."
The ship sailed for San Francisco on May 6, 185 1,
and arrived out without special incident in 107 days.
A pilot took her in and anchored her three miles
from her wharf. Low rowed ashore and met the
owners' agent, "a Nantucket man and a regular
driver," who "wanted to know why I had not
brought the ship up near the wharf."
"The pilot refused to bring her any nearer," was
the reply.
"The ship must come up to the wharf."
"If she must she must."
Thereupon Captain Low went back to the ship
where the pilot refused once more to take her
to the wharf — why, is not told. So Low called all
214 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
hands and set all plain sail to skysails. The wind
was light abeam. "We got under way and went
along finely. I knew that sails would stop a ship as
well as send her ahead and I kept every stitch of
canvas on her. ... As soon as I got near enough I
backed the main yard and went along side so easily
that there was hardly a jar. ... A great crowd
on the wharf cheered me most heartily."
The Palmer sailed from San Francisco to Canton
in ballast, carrying 75 Chinese bodies as freight at
$75 per body. Her passage from Canton to New
York was made in 84 days. In her next voyage
the Palmer made her best records for speed. Be-
ginning on the third day out of New York she
covered 396 miles in twenty-four hours. On July i,
1852, she overhauled the celebrated Flying Cloud
that had sailed ten days ahead of her. The Flying
Cloud eventually beat her to San Francisco but she
left San Francisco ten days after the Flying Cloud
and beat her to China. And she beat the Flying
Cloud from Canton to New York.
In April, 1854, the Palmer loaded whale oil at
Honolulu for New York and sailed on the 23d. She
crossed the line in six days and rounded the Horn
in thirty-eight "with skysails and royal studdingsails
set. In 57 days we crossed the line in the Atlantic,
a splendid passage. We were ten days ahead of the
famous Sovereign of the SeasJ*
This is not to claim that the A^. B. Palmer was
The Captain and His Fleet 215
a swifter ship than either the Flying Cloud or the
Sovereign of the Seas, but it Is to say with emphasis
that she was of their class — one of the swiftest of
the clippers.*
Captain Low was one of the few captains of the
day who carried their wives. Mrs. Low was a
woman of remarkable beauty and whenever the ship
was in port the cabin was a much-sought social center.
The Palmer was eventually sold In Europe.
The years 1 850-1 851 were memorable In the
annals of Captain Palmer's life because of the build-
ing of another notable clipper, named the Contest,
This ship measured 1,098 tons and for her size
she was a splendid racer. Her record in the run
from New York to San Francisco was 97 days,
the same as that of the Sea Witch. In the return
run to New York she sailed in a race with the
Northern Light, which was bound for Boston.
The Contest covered the 16,000 miles in 80 days,
but the Northern Light arrived at her destination
in 78 days and 5 hours.
The Contest was one of the beautiful Yankee
clippers captured by Captain Raphael Semmes, of
the Confederate cruiser Alabama. The ship was
burned off Batavia, while on her way from Yoko-
* Mr. J. Murray Forbes, of Boston, is probably the only man
now living who sailed in the A^. B. Palmer. In 1863 he crossed
from San Francisco to Canton in her, and passed through a typhoon
that carried away some top hamper, but demonstrated that she was
an excellent sea boat.
2i6 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
hama to New York, on November ii, 1863.
Semmes described the capture and destruction of
the ship in his "Service Afloat" as follows:
"It was now about two o'clock A. M., and the
Alabama getting up her anchor, steamed out into
the China Sea, by the light of the burning ship. We
had thus lighted a bonfire at either end of the re-
nowned old Strait of Sunda. After having thus ad-
vertised our presence in this passage, it was useless
to remain in it longer. Ships approaching it would
take the alarm, and seek some other outlet into the
Indian Ocean. Most of the ships coming down
the China Sea, with a view of passing out at the
Strait of Sunda, come through the Caspar Strait.
I resolved now to steam in the direction of this
latter strait, and forestall such as might happen
to be on their way. By daylight we had steamed
the coast of Sumatra and Java out of sight, and
soon afterward we made the little island called the
North Watcher, looking, indeed, as its name implied,
like a lone sentinel posted on the wayside. We had
lost the beautiful blue waters of the Indian Ocean,
with Its almost unfathomable depths and entered
upon a sea whose waters were of a whitish green,
with an average depth of no more than about twenty
fathoms. Finding that I should be up with Caspar
Strait sometime during the night, If I continued
under steam, and preferring to delay my arrival
until daylight the next morning, I let my steam go
The Captain and His Fleet 217
down, and put my ship under sail, to take it more
leisurely.
"We were about to lift the propeller out of the
water, when the cry of 'sail ho' came from the
vigilant look-out at the mast-head. We at once
discontinued the operation, not knowing but we
might have occasion to use steam. As the stranger
was standing in our direction, we soon raised her
from the deck, and as my glass developed, first one,
and then another of her features, it was evident that
here was another clippership at hand. She had the
well-known tall, raking masts, square yards, and
white canvas. She was on a wind, with everything
set, from courses to skysails, and was ploughing her
way through the gently ruffled sea, with the rapidity,
and at the same time, the grace of a swan. We
made her a point or two on our lee bow, and not
to excite her suspicion we kept away for her, so
gradually, that she could scarcely perceive the al-
teration in our course. We hoisted at the same
time the United States colors. When we were
within about four miles of the chase, she responded
by showing us the same colors. Feeling now quite
sure of her, we fired a gun, hauled down the enemy's,
and threw our own to the breeze. (We were now
wearing that splendid white flag, with its cross and
stars, which was so great an improvement upon
the old one.) So far from obeying the command
of our gun, the gallant ship kept off a point or two —
probably her best point of sailing — gave herself
2i8 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
topgallant and topmast studding-sail, and away she
went !
"I had been a little premature in my eagerness
to clutch so beautiful a prize. She was not as yet
under my guns, and it was soon evident that she
would give me trouble before I could overhaul her.
The breeze was tolerably fresh, but not stiff. We
made sail at once in chase. Our steam had been
permitted to go down, as the reader has seen; and
as yet we had not much more than enough to turn
the propeller. The chase was evidently gaining on
us. It was some fifteen or twenty minutes before
the engineer had a head of steam on. We now
gave the ship all steam, and trimmed the sails to
the best possible advantage. Still the fugitive ship
retained her distance from us, if she didn't increase
it. It was the first time the Alabama had appeared
dull. She was under both sail and steam, and yet
here was a ship threatening to run away from her.
She must surely be out of trim. I tried, therefore,
the effect of getting my crew aft on the quarter-
deck, and shifting aft some of the forward guns.
This helped us visibly, and the ship sprang forward
with increased speed. We were now at least hold-
ing our own, but it was impossible to say, as yet,
whether we were gaining an inch. If the breeze
had freshened, the chase would have run from
us beyond all question. I watched the signs of the
weather anxiously. It was between nine and ten
o'clock A. M. Fortunately, as the sun gained power,
The Captain and His Fleet 219
and drove away the mists of the morning, the breeze
began to decline ! Now came the triumph of steam.
When we had come within long range, I threw the
spray over the quarter-deck of the chase, with a
rifle-shot from my bow-chaser. Still she kept on,
and it was not until all hope was evidently lost, that
the proud clipper-ship, which had been beaten by
the failure of the wind, rather than the speed of
the Alabama, shortened sail and hove to.
"When the captain was brought on board, I con-
gratulated him on the skilful handling of his ship,
and expressed my admiration of her fine qualities.
He told me that she was one of the most famous
clipper-ships out of New York. She was the Con-
test, from Yokohama, in Japan, bound to New York.
She was light, and in fine sailing trim, having only
a partial cargo on board. There being no attempt
to cover the cargo, consisting mostly of light Jap-
anese goods, lacker-ware, and curiosities, I con-
demned both ship and cargo. I was sorry to be
obliged to burn this beautiful ship, and regretted
much that I had not an armament for her, that I
might commission her as a cruiser. Both ships now
anchored in an open sea, with no land visible, in
fourteen fathoms of water, whilst the crew was
being removed from the prize, and the necessary
preparations made for burning. It was after night-
fall before these were all completed, and the torch
applied. We hove up our anchor, and made sail
by the light of the burning ship. Having now burned
220 Captain Nathaniel Brown Pahner
a ship off Caspar Strait, I turned my ship's head
to the eastward, with the intention of taking the
Carimata Strait."
Semmes valued the prize at $122,815. The
American claim before the Geneva Board of x\rbi-
tration (Vol. Ill of the Reports, p. 348) was
$158,465.97. In May, 1876, A. A. Low, as at-
torney for the owners, collected $66,994.96, "being
the amount due" from the sum awarded to the
United States for the Alabama claims, so-called.
From this sum commissions and attorney's fees were
deducted so that the owners actually received only
$47,465.75, of which Captain Palmer's share was
$5,933.22. He was the owner of four shares —
thirty-seconds. The Contest cost $95,000 and was
the most expensive clipper that Captain Palmer had
built. She was nevertheless a highly profitable ship
during her twelve years afloat. Her first cargo
(May, 1 851) yielded $48,000 freight.
Of the David Brown, the largest of Captain
Palmer's designs (1,715 tons), it may be noted that
she made the New York-San Francisco run during
1854, in 98 days. Two years later she made it in
103 days. In Clark's list of twenty-six clippers that
completed this run in less than no days the David
Brown stands fifth, the Sea Witch seventh, the
Contest eighth. The Comet, with the record of 76
days for the eastward run stands twenty-first in this
list.
The Captain and His Fleet 221
In order to give an idea of the speed of the really
short passages among the average of the whole
American fleet engaged in the trade, it should be
noted that (Hunt's Merchants' Magazine^ Vol. 28,
p. 623), only twelve vessels out of 161 made the
passage from the East to San Francisco in less than
no days during 1852. Among these only two were
at sea less than 100 days. The Sword Fish required
92 days and the Flying Fish, 98. On the other hand,
by way of contrast, twelve vessels required more
than 200 days, among which the Alesto, from Bos-
ton, was on the way 295 days, and the John Jay,
from New York, 270. The average of all arrivals,
month by month, varied from 137.5 <^^ys i" April
to 161 days in November. As the total number
of arrivals reported was 161, only a little more than
7% of the vessels covered the route in less than no
days while only 1.2% arrived in less than 100 days.
CHAPTER XIX
GOOD QUALITIES OF THE CLIPPERS CONSIDERED
THAT the swift passages of the ship Natchez
should have been included in all magazine
stories of the Yankee clippers is one of the
more interesting facts in the history of the clipper
era; for the Natchez was in all respects a type
the very reverse of the clippers. But of all the
stories ever written about the ships of the deep
blue sea the one that should be of most interest to
naval architects is that which tells how Captain
"Bob" Waterman drove the Natchez from New
York to Canton and back at the very beginning of the
clipper era. Indeed, the story, being brief, might
well be printed in bold type on cardboard and hung
on the wall of every school room used for instruct-
ing youths who would learn to design ships.
The Natchez was built in 1831 by Isaac Webb,
for the Collins-New York and New Orleans packet
line. In those days the water in the passes of the
Mississippi was always shallow and every vessel
trading regularly to New Orleans was built with a
broad beam and relatively little depth. Because no
such a model was supposed to be speedy, the hulls
were designed to carry the utmost amount of cargo
222
Good Qualities of the Clippers Considered 223
possible, and that is to say the ends were as blunt
as any afloat; for cotton was the most important
item in the cargo and the hold of the ship was
crammed full of it, the final bales in each tier being
forced in with big screws.
In short, the Natchez had a model comparable
with that of an Erie canal boat. One writer, speak-
ing of her as she appeared in 1843, called her an
"old flat-floored cotton wagon." Note that she was
especially old, for the best of ships were reduced
in grade for insurance purposes at the age of ten,
and the Natchez was then twelve years old.
However, in 1843 Howland & Aspinwall took
over the Natchez, placed her under the command of
Captain Robert H. Waterman and sent her to Can-
ton for tea. Captain Bob, as he was called by a
great host of friends, had made a splendid reputa-
tion as a mate in the Black Ball packet line. He
was now to have a remarkable career in the China
trade. Taking the Natchez to Canton he loaded
tea and brought it home in a passage of 94 days,
a length of time which was exactly equaled, but
never excelled by the celebrated clipper Flying
Cloud.
In 1844, Captain Waterman took the Natchez
by way of the west coast of South America to
Hong Kong, where he arrived in the short time
of 133 days of sailing. He then took on tea, and
on January 15, 1845, 01* about the day when the
clipper Rainbow was launched, he sailed for New
224 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
York. He was off the Cape of Good Hope In 39
days and on April 3, just 78 days from Canton, he
arrived In New York.
"This whole passage," says Clark, "was most re-
markable, as the Natchez had established the reputa-
tion of being an uncommonly slow ship."
It Is Intimated In some of the magazine stories,
as said, that Howland & Asplnwall built their second
China clipper, the Sea JVitch, because of the ad-
mirable work of their first clipper, the Rainbow.
The truth Is they built the Sea JVitch because of the
marvelous work of Captain Waterman with the
Natchez; but they built her to the plans of Griffiths
because of the success of the Rainbow. In fact, when
the sail plan of the Sea JVitch was drawn Griffiths
consulted frequently with Captain Waterman. When
building the Sea JVitch her owners argued that if
Captain Waterman could bring the "old flat-floored
cotton wagon" home In 78 days he could lower that
record by something memorable with the new Grif-
fiths clipper.
And so he did by something most memorable —
eventually. The Sea Witch sailed on her first voyage
to China on December 23, 1846, and arrived at
Hong Kong In 104 days, or twenty more than was
required by the Houqua in her first voyage. She
sailed from Canton for New York on July 25, 1847,
and arrived In 81 days, or three more than had been
required by the "old, flat-floored cotton wagon."
However, a day of glory was to come with the
Good Qualities of the Clippers Considered 225
second voyage. The Sea Witch made the run out
to Hong Kong In 105 days and then, on November
7, 1847, sailed for New York on a passage never
equaled either before or since. She was expected
to lower the record of the Natchez to a memorable
extent, and as said she did. She arrived in New
York in 77 days. She lowered the record of the
"old cotton wagon," in a race 14,000 miles long,
by just one day. In two subsequent voyages she
came home in 79 and 81 days respectively. She
was thus unable to equal the record of the Natchez
on these runs.
Of course all four of her passages were marvelous
examples of speed but in view of the Natchezes
"well-earned reputation of being an uncommonly
slow ship" is it unfair to suggest that the ability of
Captain Waterman had quite as much to do with the
speed record of the Sea Witch as did her model?
Moreover, since the Rainbow never equaled the
record of the Natchez, is it not manifest that the
model of the Rainbow and the Sea Witch had much
less influence upon the development of the clippers
than modern writers have been disposed to assert?
Because the record of the Natchez has never been
equaled by any other Canton trader than the Sea
Witch, and because it was surpassed by the run of
this extremely sharp ship by only one day, the in-
fluence of the shape of a hull upon speed may well
have consideration here. What shape of hull is
best adapted for speedy passages between ports that
226 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
are far apart? Griffiths's whole theory of shape
was expressed in his description of the Lightning
{Nautical Magazine, Vol. II, p. 9), already quoted.
"Very great stability; acute extremities; full,
short midship body; comparatively small deadrise,
and the longest end forward, are points in the ex-
cellence of this ship."
By acute extremities he meant the use of hollow
water lines and his expression "the longest end for-
ward" indicated that the greatest breadth of beam
was placed abaft the midlength section.
Were the hollow water lines as advantageous as
Griffiths, Steers and McKay supposed they were?
Evidently McKay came to have doubt in the matter
because he gave the Lightning very deep hollows,
but the bows of the Great Republic, the pride of
his life, "were wedge like, being slightly concave
below water and convex above, with much sameness
in shape," to quote the description written by
Griffiths in the Nautical Magazine.
More important than the views of McKay in this
matter, however, is the modern practice In modeling
hulls for speed only. The yacht America had hollow
waterlines, but the modern defenders of her famous
cup, beginning with the Vigilant, have all had what
has been called spoon-shaped bows. The hollow
waterline was abandoned as a detriment to speed.
As to the location of the greatest breadth of
Good Qualities of the Clippers Considered 227
beam — whether forward or abaft the midlength sec-
tion— an inspection of the records of the swiftest
American ships shows that some "with the longest
end forward," like the Lightning, have been ex-
ceedingly swift and some like the Liverpool packet
Dreadnought, have had "the longest end" aft. The
Dreadnoughts widest section was three feet for-
ward of the beam; the Lightning^ s eight feet abaft.
This Is not to argue that one model Is as good
as another. What we need to learn Is the features
of the clippers which gave them great speed, and
but little inquiry Is needed to show that the relative
dimensions were of much more importance than any
peculiarity of shape.
An examination of the Palmer hulls Is interesting
in connection with this discussion. The Houqua
was 132 feet long by 32 wide and 17 deep. She
was a little more than four times as long as she
was broad. The Oriental was 185 feet long by 36
broad and 21 deep. She was therefore five times
as long as she was broad. When designing the
Houqua the captain was venturing into a new field
and he was therefore conservative In his model. The
relation of length to beam was that found in some
older cargo ships. Later experience led him to make
his models relatively longer.
An examination of the known proportions of the
famous clippers shows that most of them were
around five times as long as they were broad. Some
were longer. The Flying Cloud and the Lightning
2 28 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
were about five and a half times as long as they
were broad, the Sovereign of the Seas was nearly
six times, and the Great Republic was more than
six times as long as she was broad. The Sea TVitch^
the Oriental, the Lightning, were swift because, first
of all, their dimensions were well proportioned.
In this feature the clipper models were a distinct
departure from previous models. Dana's "Seaman's
Friend" describes the Damascus built at Boston in
1839. She was 4.6 times as long as she was broad.
The Rajah was of about the same proportions. Two
British men-o'-war described were still wider. One
was but 3.2 times as long as she was broad and the
other 3.13.
A relatively long hull enabled the designer to give
his model long wedges at the bow and stern, and
every backwoodsman knows that a long wedge is
easier to drive than a short one.
It may be noted that the Houqua was relatively
shallow; she was a "skimming dish!" Her speed
was due to this feature, one may suppose, for a shoal
depth makes for speed, as the America's cup races
have proved.
Undoubtedly the most important feature of the
clipper was her sail plan. The masts and yards were
relatively enormous. Large sails meant great
power, but it was not alone in spreading much can-
vas to storm winds that the clippers exceeded all
other ships. For the lofty spreads of light canvas
— skysails and royal studdingsails — caught many a
Good Qualities of the Clippers Considered 229
vagrant breeze and carried the clippers swiftly across
the doldrums between trade-winds areas when the
ordinary ships lay rolling idly for weeks at a stretch.
The Damascus, mentioned above, was 32 feet
wide. Her main yard was 60 feet long — less than
twice her width. The Stacji Hound was 40 feet wide
and carried a main yard 86 feet long. The Great
Republic was 53 feet wide and was originally pro-
vided with a main yard 120 feet long.
Furthermore the clippers carried sails which were
proportioned to the masts in such a way as to give
a balance; with all plain sail set the ship would
"steer herself," as the sailors used to say. It was
because the canvas on the TV. B. Palmer was per-
fectly balanced, fore and aft, that Captain Low was
able to take her to her wharf at San Francisco under
canvas when the pilot refused to do so.
Perhaps the feature of Captain Palmer's clippers
which made the strongest appeal to the owners of
the day was their strength. When designing a ship
for speed the size of the timbers used in the framing
had to be adjusted to suit the strains on the hull.
The rock maple keel, the white-oak ribs and the
long-leaf pine beams, were all heavy and expensive.
The builders were tempted to scamp the size of all
these timbers in order to save both weight and
money, and many yielded to the temptation. Hav-
ing been built with scamped timbers some ships de-
signed as clippers were hogged — their backs were
broken — when they were launched. The hulls of
230 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
others were drawn out of shape by the pressure of
the waves when they were driven hard against a
gale. The tremendous pressure of the masts on the
keel, when a ship was straining under a press of
canvas, sometimes drove the keel down until the
garboard strake seams were opened, creating leaks
which spoiled the cargo and even sank the ship. The
pull of the shrouds sometimes drew the bolts which
held the lower fittings of the shrouds to the sides
of the hull and sometimes opened the seams on the
sides. The same strain frequently wrecked the too-
slender masts and yards.
The experience of the Houqua during a cyclone
which overtook her on the Indian Ocean, soon after
midnight on January i6, 1848, shows at least that
she was built to endure the worst. The wind was
so powerful that within seven hours after it came,
all furled as well as all reefed sails had been blown
in small bits from the yards and spanker boom. Not
a rag was left. The pressure of the wind on the bare
jibboom not only broke that spar off in the bowsprit
cap, but It carried away the weather cathead to which
the jib and flying jib guys were set up. All three
topgallant masts followed. At 9 In the forenoon
the ship entered the quiet area In the centre of the
cyclone and the crew cleared away the wreckage
aloft. But at noon the wind came again with such
force that It was impossible to stand up on deck and
all hands gathered at the main rigging save only
Good Qualities of the Clippers Considered 231
the man who was at the wheel. The barometer
stood at 27.5.
At 4 P. M. the crew saw an almost solid mass of
spoondrift coming with the wind. It was about 30
feet high, and when it struck the ship it formed,
for a moment, an arch over the deck beneath which
the mainmast was visible though the top was in-
visible. With that the Houqua turned over until
her tops were in the water alee and the deck was
perpendicular.
Captain Low, who was in command, fell into the
sea, but he caught a flying rope and climbed up to
the main pin rail. There, by motions, he directed
the crew to cut away the main rigging while the man
from the wheel, who had escaped to the mizzen rig-
ging, cut the shroud lanyards there. The masts at
once went overboard and the ship righted. Mean-
time, of course, the deck had been swept clean and
so much water had poured down the cabin and the
forecastle scuttles that the hull was half full.
But when the wind had moderated and the crew
had pumped the water out they found the hull as
tight and sound as ever, and she sailed 3>500 miles
under a jury rig to Hong Kong. It was after this
tremendous strain that she made her record pas-
sage from Shanghai to New York.
The final test of a design for speed was in the
ability of the ship to endure all strains in a storm
wind.
232 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
Perhaps the influence of size upon speed has not
been sufficiently considered in the clipper records.
All yacht clubs have rules under which the large
yachts give time allowances to small ones, but even
with the best of these rules the large yacht has yet
an advantage. A race between a seventy-foot chal-
lenger for the America's cup and a ninety-foot
defender is simply unthinkable. But the record of
the Samuel Russell, of 940 tons, is compared with
that of the Sovereign of the Seas, measuring 2,421
tons.
Confessedly when the peculiarities of the clippers
are considered in the light of present-day knowledge
it is manifest that naval architecture was not then
an exact science, and it is not an exact science even
now. Naval architects make calculations and draw
plans for each ship. Then they build a six-foot
model which they tow to and fro in a big tank built
for the purpose, and measure the strain on the tow
line with care. Next they begin to scrape away the
underwater body of the model, here and there, to
learn what alteration of shape is needed to reduce
the strain — to increase the speed, in other words.
We are yet designing ships by the rule-o'-thumb.
If the records of the Palmer clippers are consid-
ered all together it appears that each led to the
building of another because all were profitable; and
all became noted, not through the use of any one
peculiar feature of build or outfit, but as a result
of continuous good work. Every passage was made
Good Qualities of the Clippers Considered 233
at a satisfactory speed and the cargoes were de-
livered in good order. So long as they were in
service it was said of them all, except the Houqua,
that they "did not cost the underwriters a cent."
The all-around efficiency of these ships should be
emphasized in any story of the clipper era, because
something more than a swift passage or two was
needed to induce the ship merchants everywhere
alongshore to undertake the building of "fast ves-
sels for foreign trade," to use Griffiths's words.
Something more was needed, that is to say, to de-
velop the "clipper era." Donald McKay did not
get his order to build the Stag Hound (the first clip-
per built in Boston) until 1850 — until four years
after the Rainbow had made her second voyage to
Canton, and two years after the Sea Witch, "the
swiftest clipper of her day," had broken the record
of the "old cotton wagon," Natchez. Boston mer-
chants knew all about these records, but they had
not been convinced by the short passages that sharp-
built ships were more desirable than others. Before
they would order clippers it was necessary to show
them that the sharp-built ships had records for mak-
ing more money than the ships they already owned.
The Palmer ships, built for the conservative firm
of A. A. Low & Brothers, were furnishing just such
records. They were the most profitable ships in
the China trade — that is, they yielded the highest
per cent of profit — though the Griffiths ships were
only a little behind them; and it was just when these
234 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
profits became fully known alongshore that the ex-
traordinary demand for swift ships, to carry cargo
to California at $1.50 per cubic foot of space, arose.
The Boston merchants did not order clippers for
fear of losing their tea trade, nor to pose as the
owners of the swiftest ships in the China trade, but
to get a share of a transportation business wherein
the freight rate was $60 per measured ton. They
did not intend "to enter the lists with Messrs. Aspin-
wall, Captain N. B. Palmer, and others, and dispute
for the palm of speed." They did not build as a
sporting proposition even though thousands of dol-
lars were wagered on the flyers when racing from
port to port. The clipper era was developed by
men who were animated solely by the motive now
so often stigmatized as greed.
Working as contemporaries but not as rivals.
Captain Palmer and John Willis Griffiths developed
two styles of sharp-built ships, both of which were
great money makers. The era of the clipper was
originated when Palmer and Griffiths built the
Houqiia and the Rainbow. The climax was reached
when the ships of Donald McKay and of Captain
Palmer were earning gross sums in single passages
equal to and commonly exceeding the original costs
of the vessels. The business depression, which fol-
lowed the California inflation, reduced the freight
rate to $10 per ton in the New York-San Francisco
trade, and bluff models were seen once more in the
shipyards.
Good Qualities of the Clippers Considered 235
Observe, now, that in his description of the Stag
Hound, previously quoted, Griffiths wrote as fol-
lows:
"The construction of this ship may be said to
mark the introduction of the late clipper era at
Boston."
The era which was begun by the building of the
Houqua and the Rainbow, 1 843-1 845, was called
"the late clipper era" in 1855 — it was then passing
away. Why it passed — why the splendid ships
which had outsailed all others and made a reputa-
tion as lasting as the history of the sea — failed
at last, shall be told in another chapter.
CHAPTER XX
THE "great republic" REBUILT
AN interesting little side light on the character
of Captain Palmer is found in the list of
names given to the ships he designed. The
names Hoiiqua, Samuel Russell, Oriental and N. B.
Palmer were such as conservative merchants were
then in the habit of giving ships. The Boston names
of the most famous clippers were Stag Hound,
Flying Cloud, Sovereign of the Seas, Chariot of
Fame and Great Republic — a somewhat boastful
list.
The last named ship was the largest of the clip-
per fleet, and the largest ship of the sail ever built
of wood. She is of special interest here because,
through a vagary of fortune common enough in the
annals of the sea, she came into the possession of
Captain Palmer.
To give the story of this ship the right focus it
is necessary to recall first the trade between eastern
United States ports and San Francisco, after the
discovery (Jan. 24, 1848) of placer gold in Cali-
fornia. When the news of this discovery was
officially confirmed a vast host of people hastened
with all possible speed to the new diggings. The
236
The ''Great Republic'' Rebuilt 237
congestion of people at San Francisco raised the
prices of commodities to an extraordinary height.
On July I, 1849, lumber worth $12 per thousand
In New York sold for $500 In San Francisco. Eggs
sold for $2 a dozen. Fowls were $4 each and all
other commodity prices were comparable with these.
The profits on a cargo of general merchandise
shipped from New York to San Francisco, at that
time, were so great that the demand for swift ships
of the largest size exceeded any ever before known
In the nation. This demand continued for several
years, and sea capitalists built for the trade with all
speed. In 1851 a large number of ships were
launched which measured from 1,500 to 1,800 tons,
or an average of 500 tons larger than the large ships
of previous years. A year later several ships
measuring above 2,000 tons were built with profit
for the owners, the largest of these, the Sovereign
of the Seas, measuring 2,421 tons. This ship was
built by Donald McKay of Boston on his own ac-
count, because no one was to be found who would
invest in a vessel as large as she was. McKay's
friends seriously warned him that bankruptcy would
follow, but when she was put in commission she
proved to be the most profitable ship of the whole
clipper fleet of the day.
It was the success of the Sovereign of the Seas
along with the prevailing optimism in business
circles — especially the prevailing optimism — that
led, in 1853, to the building of the Great Republic.
238 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
If certain characteristics of this ship be consid-
ered it is seen that her name was appropriate; for
she was in several respects like the American nation.
First of all, she was thoroughly well framed and
put together. Her backbone — the assemblage of
timbers at her keel — was nine feet, ten inches deep,
from the top of the riding keelson to the bottom
of the shoe, and the breadth of this assemblage was
commensurate with the depth. She had bilge keel-
sons which were larger than the keels of many big
clippers. The scarfs of the timbers were long, the
coags big and numerous, the bolts, whether of cop-
per or iron, were of unusual dimensions. Finally the
frames were diagonally cross-braced with iron straps
four inches wide and an inch thick. In her construc-
tion she was as far superior to all sailing ships of
that day as the fundamentals of the America^
nation were superior to those of all other nations.
Then, while some critics, including Designer
Griffiths, thought she lacked beauty, they all agreed
that she was built for speed and carrying capacity.
Her spread of canvas was in fact simply enormous,
and in proportion far beyond the usual spread.
Thus her main yard was 120 feet long to a breadth
of hull of ^2 feet, or 14 feet more than the naval
rule allowed in making the sail plan of swift frigates.
Her bulk was especially comparable with that of
the nation. She was 325 feet long on the upper
deck, and that was 125 feet longer than the deck of
the clipper Aurora, a vessel of the average size in
The *'Great Republic** Rebuilt 239
the trade during 1854. She measured 4,555 tons,
and her capacity was 6,000 tons. She was of such
immense size that neither owners nor agents could
fill her; and a fanciful writer has compared the vast
empty space in her hull to the wide vacant land
spaces then existing in the nation. There was some-
thing of the "spread-eagle" in the attitude of her
designer, as there was in the attitude of all good
Yankees in those days.
When completed the Great Republic was brought
to New York and partly loaded for Liverpool,
where she was to be put into the trade to Australia.
But just before she was ready to sail (December 26,
1853) a fire which originated in a nearby warehouse
set her on fire aloft, for that was the day of tarred
rigging. The firemen flinched when asked to save
her, her spars and upper deck were destroyed, and
she was sunk at the pier. She was then abandoned
to the underwriters (she had been insured for
$400,000), and the underwriters in due course sold
her at auction, "as is and where is." Captain
Palmer bought her, as she lay on the bottom beside
the pier, for A. A. Low & Brothers. To show his
standing with this firm it may be told that none of
the members knew what he was doing until he went
to the office and announced the purchase. Mr. A.
A. Low at once confirmed the transaction. The cap-
tain took a sixteenth interest in the hulk.
Of course the captain had bid her in at a low
price. She was raised and towed to the shipyard
240 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
of Sneeden & Whitlock, Greenpoint, where she was
rebuilt as a razee, to use the naval term. She was
rebuilt, without her original upper deck, at a total
cost of $27,000.
The original figurehead, by the way, was a beau-
tifully-carved head of an eagle, covered with gold
leaf. Captain Palmer saved it and took it to Ston-
ington, where It may now be seen in the public
library. The razee had no figurehead.
In her new form the Great Republic was still much
larger than any ship of the sail afloat, for she meas-
ured 3,355 tons and had a capacity of something
more than 4,000 tons.
Reducing the depth of hold was only one of the
alterations made in the Great Republic. Thus the
new main yard was only 90 feet long as compared
with the original, 120 feet long, a reduction of 25%.
The masts were also shortened, of course. This
was done to reduce the number of men required.
A novelty in the outfit of the big ship was a steam
engine installed on deck and connected with handy
winches, fore and aft. American shipbuilders had
led the world theretofore in adopting such labor-
saving devices as blocks with roller bearings, im-
proved windlasses and "patent" steering gear, but
the use of steam to save human muscle was an
improvement in advance of the day. The practical
result of all the changes made by Captain Palmer
in this rebuilt ship was a reduction in the number of
men required from 100 to 50.
The ''Great Republic'' Rebuilt 241
On February 21, 1855, Captain Palmer sent the
Great Republic to sea, bound for London, with
3,000 tons of guano in her hold "for ballast." She
ran to the coast of England in twelve days, and
Admiral Preble, in his interesting account of this
vessel, printed in the United States Service Maga-
zine, recalls the fact that she sailed 412 miles in 24
consecutive hours while on the way. If she was able
to sail at that speed under a main yard 90 feet long,
what might she have done if equally well handled
under her original main yard 120 feet long?
The ship was consigned to the London firm of
W. S. Lindsay & Co., shipbrokers and merchants
of the highest standing, the head of the firm being
the historian whose work has been quoted herein.
Referring to her (Vol. Ill, p. 359), Lindsay wrote:
"She made the passage to Scilly Islands in thir-
teen days, beating up the channel thence in three
days to the Downs. But on her arrival in London
. . . I found her much too large to be employed
profitably in any of the ordinary channels of com-
merce; and had not the French Government, then
in want of transports for the Crimean War, been
induced by the large space she afforded for the con-
veyance of troops, to engage her for this purpose,
she must have remained, long after her arrival,
unemployed."
Lindsay & Co. wrote so discouragingly about the
employment of the big ship that the owners sent
242 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
Captain Palmer to London to see what he could do
with her. Just how he managed the business is not
now a matter of record, but the Nautical Magazine
(Vol. II, p. 569) reported that the French Govern-
ment had chartered her for use as a transport (as
Lindsay also notes), to carry soldiers and supplies
from French ports to the Crimea, where war pre-
vailed. The price received by the owners was
twenty shillings net per ton register per month. For
his part of the task of securing this profitable char-
ter the Lows gave Captain Palmer $2,500.
In 1857 the Great Republic was sent from New
York to San Francisco with a cargo that yielded,
according to one report, a freight of $160,000. It
was in her passage to the west that she made the
record run between Sandy Hook and the Equator —
16 days. She arrived at San Francisco in 92 days.
As was noted at the time, she never had the luck
to find a driving gale that lasted for any great length
of time. Lieut. M. F. Maury, of the Washington
Naval Observatory, whose wind charts were of such
great value to seamen, said that if this ship had
been able to sail over a route in the far south where
the strong winds found by the Sovereign of the Seas
prevail, she would have exceeded all records, even
with her reduced sail area.
During the Civil War she was in the employ of
the Federal Government. In 1869 she was sold in
Liverpool and Clark notes that she foundered "off
Bermuda" in 1872.
CHAPTER XXI
HAIL AND FAREWELL
AS designed, the Great Republic was the most
splendid wooden merchant ship ever built,
even though too large for profit at that
period. That an eager ambition to excel — that
pride founded on previous achievement and buoyant
optimism — should have produced such a ship was
natural and perhaps inevitable. But if rightly seen
the result was worth the cost. The patriot's blood
is stirred as he reads the description of her huge
hull, her extraordinary framing, and, above all, her
tremendous spread of canvas; and he is glad that
the enthusiasm needed for the production of a ship
like her was found in an American builder.
It is interesting to observe, too, that the conserva-
tive Captain Palmer had the optimism to invest in
this last and greatest ship of her class. He saw
clearly that, as designed, she was much too large
for the going cargoes, for he was careful, when re-
building her, to provide for a great reduction in
the number of her crew. When he substituted a
90-foot main yard for one that had been 120 feet
long, he calculated that while the ship would carry
almost as much cargo as any two of the ordinary
243
244 Captain Nathaniel Brown Painter
clippers afloat she would require few more men in
her crew than one of them. There was a solid
foundation for his optimism.
One can believe, too, that when he was rebuilding
her he was animated by an unexpressed ambition.
It would be a notable achievement to make a profit-
able ship out of this magnificent monster. Perhaps,
too, as he recalled his work in creating the first of
the clippers, he dimly realized that the Great Re-
public was the culminant, the predominant ship of
the famous fleet, and that this feeling moved him to
buy her at the auction. At any rate he was, in later
years, honestly proud of having been a leader
among clipper owners at the end, as well as at
the beginning, of the wonderful era.
In connection with the story of the Great Republic
it is interesting to recall the fact that the English
were also building a ship, in those days, which was
much too large for the available traffic — the steam-
ship Great Eastern — the keel of which was laid on
May I, 1854. She and the Great Republic were
contemporary exhibits of excessive optimism, but the
British ship occupies a position in the history of the
sea far different from that of the big clipper. For
she was a sporadic growth in the evolution of a new
and more efficient type where the American ship was
a final specimen of a type doomed to disappear.
The fact that the ship of the sail was to be re-
placed in all trades by a new type is a matter of
especial interest here, because of Captain Palmer^s
Hail and Farewell 245
connection with the contest between the two types.
Accordingly, a brief consideration of the evolution
of the deep-water steamship must be given. In
1838 I. K. Brunei, chief engineer of the Great West-
ern Railroad, in England, sent the steamship Great
Western from Bristol to New York (April 7-23),
and demonstrated that a steamship could earn a
profit in the transatlantic trade; for this voyage
yielded a profit and the ship continued to make profit-
able voyages for years thereafter In spite of the
opposition of another British line which received a
substantial subsidy for carrying the mails.
It Is Important to observe next that the early
steamships were run in opposition to our packets
and not to our clippers. The clippers were in the
long-haul trade and made their whole magnificent
career after the steamships had begun their contest
for supremacy in the North Atlantic. The Houqua
was launched nearly six years after the first voyage
of the Great Western steamship was made.
Note further that the steamships served the
American packet ships precisely as the packets had
served the preceding ships — they provided a more
regular and dependable service. The American
packets for a time made contracts with shippers by
which they agreed to deliver cargo in Liverpool
ahead of the steamships, under a penalty of a great
reduction In the freight rate, but they could not
make a similar contract for the passage to New
York and succeed. The steamships could and did
246 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
announce in advance the days on which they would
depart and those on which they would arrive,
whether east bound or west bound, and they made
good the promise. So they rapidly secured the high-
class freights and the passenger traffic.
Efficiency won the contest and that is a statement
which American ship owners need to keep in mind.
When American ship owners saw the trend of the
business, they sought to go into steam, but they failed
for several substantial reasons. The British had
had long experience in navigating the stormy waters
of Europe with steamships. They had a well-
developed iron business where America had none.
The iron as well as the copper bolts with which the
famous Yankee clippers were fastened, were im-
ported; and when the Yankee built steamships he
imported much of the iron work. Then, too, the
Yankee was handicapped by the success he had had
in building inland-water steamers, for he tried to
use the kind of engines which had succeeded on the
inland vessel, but found them unadapted for deep
water.
Worst of all, the Yankee continued to use wood
for the hull while the British turned to iron, and he
used paddle wheels while the British adopted the
screw propeller. The critical period of the contest
between American and British shipping on the North
Atlantic came in 1850, when a line of iron packets,
driven by the screw propeller, was established be-
tween Philadelphia and Liverpool. From the build-
Hail and Farewell 247
ing of Palmer's packet ship Roscius to the rebuild-
ing of the Great Republic there was absolutely no
development, or say, no evolution in the ship of the
sail. But the substitution of the screw for the
paddle wheel, meantime, was a development amount-
ing to a revolution; and in the meantime, too, each
new steamship carried minor improvements in many
features. The art of building ships of the sail had
culminated; the art of building steamships was in its
infancy; and yet these infant-class steamships were
more efficient than any ship of the sail in the Liver-
pool trade. The clipper era came after the superior
efficiency of steam on the North Atlantic had been
demonstrated; and with the further evolution of
steam the proud and beautiful ship of the sail was
speedily driven from all trades.
The attitude of American ship designers and
capitalists, among whom Captain Palmer was a
leader, is very well set forth in the periodicals of
the day. In the Nautical Magazine of August,
1857, the editor considered the question, 'Which is
the Best Material for Ship Building — Wood or
Iron?" Rewrote:
"Those who have tested both wood and Iron know
wood to be the best. . . . The English shipbuilding
iron Is unfit for building vessels. We know this from
personal experience. ... In reference to the se-
curity of the shaft In the sternpost, we do not hesi-
tate to say . . . that we can furnish greater security
248 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
... in a wooden vessel than our transatlantic
friends can in an iron vessel as now built."
In the editor's view the current talk about the
superiority of iron was heard only because "English
influence is endeavoring to destroy the value of our
forests and to increase the value of her mines."
In "A Cyclopedia of Commerce," issued by
Harper & Brother in 1858, is the following on page
1706:
"It is probable that in the end" the steamships
"will engross the greater part of the coasting trade
of most countries and of the trade between countries
adjacent to each other. But the improved class of
sailing ships have little to fear from the competition
of steamers in the more distant branches of trade."
In short, American shipping people could not see
the trend of sea transportation.
Captain Palmer's opinion of iron as a material for
shipbuilding has been preserved in a record at
Stonington, as follows:
"When he was in Liverpool with the Siddons the
English shipbuilders were discussing iron ships, and
Captain Nat laughed at them. He looked at the
iron plate and said he could fire a musket ball
through it; that with an old gun he had he could sink
any of their iron ships. A wager was instantly
made that he could not make his words good. The
Hail and Farewell 249
iron plate was put in position and with an old
musket he fired a ball through it."
It was commonly believed in America that iron
was unfit for shipbuilding because it was thus easily
punctured. It was frequently said that if any acci-
dent happened to an iron ship at sea she would drop
from under the feet of the crew while they were
crossing the deck to the lifeboats. The fact that
the iron ship Great Britain had remained on the
rocks on the coast of Ireland, all one winter, and was
then hauled off and fully repaired at small expense,
was ignored.
The fact that Captain Palmer and others looked
on without concern while the British were develop-
ing their iron shipping seems, at first thought, aston-
ishing and even astounding. But when this apathy
is well considered it is understandable. It was due
to the bent of mind naturally developed in the sailor
of the sail. For the man who had designed, built,
and launched such ships as the Houqua and the
Samitel Russell, and had then driven them by fair
winds and through foul gales to record achieve-
ments, could look upon the slobbering, crashing,
stinking steamship with no other feeling than dis-
gust. The sailor of the sail was in his every fiber
and instinct an artist.
Nevertheless, Captain Palmer did try his hand at
it. He bought an interest in one built for the Black
Ball Line and took command of her on her first voy-
250 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
age. He tried thus to adapt himself to the new
system of transportation, but one trial was enough.
On his return to New York he left the ship and
soon after retired from active work at sea alto-
gether.
With the rebuilding of the Great Republic the
story of Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer, in his
work of giving American shipping a dominating
influence on all seas, comes to an end. Nevertheless,
a few brief sketches — pictures — of his life in retire-
ment should prove of interest. He was one of the
able seamen who established the New York Yacht
Club, and while he lived he was active in promoting
its interests. That he had an inborn love for sailing
in small boats as well as merchant ships was shown
during his second voyage to Canton in the Houqua,
when his wife and a niece were with him. For he
rigged one of the quarter boats with sails and then
took his wife and niece, and any guest that hap-
pened to come to the ship, for all-day exploring
expeditions around the river, above and below
Whampoa. Having given the best years of his
business career to designing swift ships of the sail,
he found no more congenial work for his hours of
leisure than the designing, building and sailing of
pleasure ships. It is remembered that he thus pro-
duced seventeen different yachts. The famous
schooner yacht Palmer was named for him.
When sailing his yachts, whether in the races of
the New York Yacht Club or in cruising along
shore, he always carried a few of the boys of Ston-
Hail and Farewell 251
ington. Some who were thus favored recall now
that he not only taught them the arts of handling
canvas, but he provided for them experiences which
cultivated such mental qualities as energy, endurance
and persistence.
Thus, it is related that when he sailed from Ston-
ington for Saybrook, one day, with such a crew on
board, the wind sagged just as he was entering the
river, and the tide began to ebb. The yacht lost
headway and then began to drift. Thereupon the
boys were put in a yawl, with a line to the yacht, in
order to tow her in ; and they were kept towing until
they succeeded, although it took them nearly all
night to do it. They thought they were "in hard
luck" at the time, but later they were thankful for a
lesson in persistence — as a record shows.
All outdoor sports appealed to the captain, and
he was especially fond of shooting. Having pro-
vided his crew with wild fowl among the islands on
the Antarctic coast, he renewed his youth by shoot-
ing coots on Long Island Sound and ducks and geese
on the Currituck Sound. For he was an active mem-
ber of the Currituck Club, a famous organization of
sportsmen in his day.
Hale and hearty, gentle and kindly, and with an
optimistic outlook on life which was founded upon
a sincere faith in the Christian religion as taught
by the Episcopal creed, he grew old slowly. Noth-
ing ever deeply marred his life until he lost his wife
in 1872, but he died at last of a broken heart. After
the death of his wife he became devoted to a
252 Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer
nephew, who had been named for him, the son of
his brother Alexander. The boy became afflicted
with tuberculosis and the captain made every pos-
sible effort to save him. He and the boy traveled
far in search of a climate where a cure might be
effected, but all in vain.
The last journey made was to China. When it
was finally seen that no hope remained, the two went
on board the City of Pekin, an American ship, at
Hong Kong, May 15, 1877, hoping to reach home
while the boy was yet alive. Though 78 years old,
and worn with travel and worry, the captain was
yet every inch a Viking lord of the sea. Captain
Tanner, the ship's master, said later that he always
felt as if he were a junior officer when in the dom-
inating presence of the old clipper sailor. But the
final and breaking strain of life was at hand, for
the boy died when one day out from port — May 16.
Throughout the voyage to San Francisco, there-
after, the captain failed steadily though not visibly,
for his will sustained him. On reaching port he
wired the death of the boy to the father. Then he
went to bed at his hotel and on June 21 he passed
aw'ay, unafraid, to the haven of all who leave a
record of good work well done.
On July 15, with his coffin buried under great
masses of flowers, his body was carried by a memor-
able host of his friends to the family plot in the
cemetery overlooking the sea at Stonington, and
there it rests awaiting the Master^s call.
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